“The recent exposé of the unfinished Mega Health Center Building at Sitio Macanhan, amounting to P65 million worth of public funds, has left us in question: where did our taxes go?”
CAGAYAN DE ORO — With the nation still grappling with the anomalies in flood control projects, another issue of irregularity, this time with the Department of Health (DOH) began to surface. About 300 super health centers (SHCs) in the country were reportedly non-operational despite completion.
SHCs are enhanced versions of rural health units, providing a wider array of services. These include outpatient care, birthing facilities, isolation rooms, pharmacy services, and ambulatory service units. They also offer diagnostic services, such as laboratory tests, x-rays, and ultrasounds.
These facilities, if they were only operational, would be beneficial to Filipinos amid long-standing issues of congestion in public hospitals.
In a report by Inquirer.net, citing DOH data, only 196 SHCs were operational and 17 were partially operational nationwide as of October 17. Meanwhile, 365 others remain under construction—these are on top of the non-operational ones.
Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said the establishment of these semi-hospitals started in 2021 through the DOH’s Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) in partnership with the local government units. It aims to bring improved health centers closer to communities.
Bulatlat checked the approved General Appropriations Act from the past years, and it showed that at least eight SHCs were proposed in 2021 under the said DOH program, but the number skyrocketed in the succeeding years. The highest was recorded in 2023, with the combined total of 322 proposed SHCs amounting to P3.2 billion.
What are the reasons?
In Cagayan de Oro, the P10-million San Simon Super Health Center remains non-operational despite the completion of the building because it still has no electricity and water connections, as confirmed by San Simon village chief Fernando Edrolin. The project broke ground on March 7, 2024.
The Super Health Center in Barangay San Simon, a hinterland village in Cagayan de Oro. It is still non-operational. Photo by iFM Cagayan de Oro
According to the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the DOH Northern Mindanao and the city government pertaining to the project, the latter was responsible for the application of permanent electric and water utilities, but only after the completion and turnover. The project has yet to be turned over.
It is also the responsibility of the local government to assign an engineer to monitor the project’s progress.
For days, Bulatlat had been reaching out to Engineer Joel Momongan, department manager of the Cagayan de Oro City Engineering Office, for comment, but he has yet to respond as of this writing.
Barangay San Simon is one of the hinterland villages in Cagayan de Oro, with a travel time of approximately more or less 40 minutes from the city proper. Hence, this SHC would be serviceable, including to the residents in neighboring rural areas.
In addition, it was brought up during a Senate committee hearing on DOH’s 2026 proposed budget that the lack of health workers was a contributing factor to this issue.
Herbosa said they can extend help through the DOH’s National Health Workforce Support System. But local chief executives, especially in cities, were reminded of their obligations, as they needed to hire health professionals to man these facilities as stipulated in the agreement.
Citing the MOA of the San Simon Super Health Center here as an example, it is the responsibility of the local government to provide health personnel.
Meanwhile, based on the General Appropriations Act, DOH’s National Health Workforce Support System has priority areas. These include 5th- and 6th-class municipalities, geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDA), Indigenous peoples’ communities, areas where poverty incidence is high based on the Philippine Statistics Authority, and municipalities that are unable to achieve Human Resources for Health standards.
The Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) noted that severe personnel shortages were one of the major problems in the health sector, saying that many were compelled to work abroad for better opportunities, while others abandoned their profession entirely “due to the government’s continued neglect.”
In a recent statement, the group called out the Marcos Jr. administration after health workers were excluded when it granted a 15-percent increase in the salary of military and uniformed personnel (MUP) in the next three years.
“… health workers and other civilian government employees, who likewise serve the public under difficult and hazardous conditions, are once again excluded and continue to be neglected by this government,” AHW said.
Mega health center
Teresita Tenson, 85, a resident of Sitio Macanhan, Barangay Carmen in Cagayan de Oro, told Bulatlat that she was happy upon hearing that a mega health center will be established a few steps from her residence. This is for better access to healthcare services, she said.
This two-story mega health center amounting to P65 million is an improved version of an SHC that will have a hemodialysis area, although this is funded by the local government and not through DOH’s HFEP.
This project, however, remains unfinished. In fact, only steel beams have been built at the project site to this day. It was supposed to be finished in January 2025.
Only steel beams have been built at the project site of the Mega Health Center in Sitio Macanhan, Barangay Carmen, Cagayan de Oro. Photo by Franck Dick Rosete/Bulatlat
This issue became a discussion by the locals after it was featured in the Kapuso Mo, Jessica Sojo program.
In a statement, the Youth Act Now against Tyranny – Cagayan de Oro expressed concern about this unfinished project. “The recent exposé of the unfinished Mega Health Center Building at Sitio Macanhan, amounting to P65 million worth of public funds, has left us in question: where did our taxes go?”
Contradictory statements were thrown by concerned parties, which brought confusion to many.
In an interview with iFM Cagayan de Oro, the Nurben Engineering and Building Contractor claimed that it never received a payment from the city government for its first billing. Hence, it stopped. It said it only received the 15 percent mobilization fund.
The latter, on the other hand, published a certification saying that the City Accounting Office released another payment for the contractor for the 15 percent work accomplishment on July 18, 2024.
Reporters had asked the City Information Office if it could release a document confirming that the contractor received the payment, but it has yet to issue it as of this writing.
“I hope that the completion will be hastened,” the 85-year-old Tenson told Bulatlat in the vernacular, as they still need to go to Barangay Carmen Health Center when the services they need are not available at the Macanhan Health Station, especially the free medicines.
Alleged misuse of funds
DOH’s unfinished and non-operational healthcare facility projects were flagged by both the House and the Senate during deliberations of the department’s proposed budget for 2026.
On October 8, 2025, Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Representative Leila de Lima filed a resolution directing concerned House committees to launch a congressional inquiry in aid of legislation into alleged “misuse and abuse of public funds” for the implementation of these SHCs.
Data showed that the region of Calabarzon had the highest number of these proposed projects in 2022, 2024, and 2025, with the combined total of 84 proposed SHCs totalling over P760.5 million. In 2023, meanwhile, the Western Visayas region had the most with 48, amounting to P480 million.
Ordinary Filipinos can also participate in the investigation after the launching of the Citizen Participatory Audit, as part of the probe on these unfinished and non-operational SHCs. On top of these, concerned locals may also send reports to DOH, which will be confidential, if SHCs in their areas lack services.
“But above all else, this must spark our collective discontent to build stronger and sustained collective actions toward addressing systemic issues of national to local corruption,” said the Youth Act Now against Tyranny – Cagayan de Oro. (RVO)
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