The Marikina City government strongly denies the Department of Health’s allegation regarding a so-called “ghost health facility project” in Concepcion Dos.
The Marikina project is among more than 200 health centers nationwide that are currently under investigation by the DOH for allegedly being “non-functional or non-operational.”
On Wednesday, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa led an inspection in Marikina City, stating that their findings would be submitted to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) for further investigation.
During the inspection, the Secretary discovered that only the foundations of the envisioned structure are complete, and that the site has become covered with vegetation.
“Nung nag-imbestiga kami, completed phase 1, for a four-storey building… ito ay isa-submit natin sa ICI,” Herbosa told reporters.
But the city government of Marikina had a different story.
“We hope the DOH does not mislead the people from the truth,” the local government said in a statement released on Thursday.
In 2024, the local government wrote to the DOH requesting an additional P180 million to complete the four-story Super Health Center, but the agency did not release any funds.
It stated that the DOH-released funds covered only the first phase of the project, consisting of the center’s foundation and structural works, and that the City of Marikina had completed this phase in full, as certified by the DOH itself.
Phase 1 of the project, funded with P21 million under the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP), was completed in 2024 and only covered foundational works.
“It is therefore misleading and irresponsible for the DOH to claim that the entire facility could have been finished using such limited funds. Despite follow-ups from the City, no additional funding for the succeeding phases has ever been released by the DOH. The delay does not lie with the City alone. It lies with the DOH’s failure to provide full project funding,” the city government argued.
For her part, Mayor Maan Teodoro said the local government decided to shoulder the construction expenses after the DOH failed to release funds for the succeeding phases of the project.
City officials also communicated their intention in a letter to Herbosa dated October 9, 2025, she said.
