• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
With the 72 percent completion of the Bacolod Museum, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri has committed P100 million more for its completion and landscaping.
Zubiri, who on August 12 inspected the ongoing construction of the Bacolod Museum, said its completion is targeted either by the first quarter, or early second quarter of next year.
The Bacolod Coliseum is also being constructed adjacent to the Museum, which according to Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, is also targeted for completion by October next year.
The Bacolod Museum-auditorium showcases works of famous Bacolod and Negrense artists, as well as MassKara festival history, and winning costumes of winners in the past, as well as future competitions.
We wanted to have a museum where locals and tourists alike can learn about and appreciate the story of Bacolod and our people, Zubiri said, stressing also that the museum-auditorium will also be a place for contemporary and future artists to continue to enrich our sense of pride and identity here in Bacolod.
An amount of P350 million has been allocated by Zubiri for the construction of Bacolod Museum, and another P400 million for the building of Bacolod City General Hospital (BCGH).
The Bacolod City General Hospital, one of the key infrastructure projects that were funded through the initiative of Zubiri, is expected to be completed by 2025.
RA 11554, establishing the BCGH, was authored by Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya in the House of Representatives, and spearheaded by Zubiri in the Senate.
Gasataya reported that the construction of hospital ancillary building, which was funded by Senator Zubiri, is now 70 percent complete. He further said that the Department of Health also gave P250 million for BCGH construction.
Coming out of the pandemic, we want to build up our regional health care services. We don’t want a repeat of the overcrowded hospitals, the overworked nurses and doctors, and the patients being turned away from hospital to hospital. So I am very much looking forward to an improved health care sector here in Western Visayas once BCGH is up and running, Zubiri said.
Zubiri added that he will work with Rep. Gasataya and Mayor Albee Benitez on how they can come up a budget for hospital equipment, as he assured them of additional funds.*
