Prior to the closure of the health centers and lying-in clinics at the 10 EMBO barangays, the need for a license to operate was already known by the Taguig city government which was given jurisdiction of the said areas by the Supreme Court.
This was the response of the Makati City local government with regard to the response of Taguig on the closure of the health centers and lying-in clinics in the said barangays.
Makati had announced on Monday that it would be closing its health centers and lying-in clinics located in the EMBO barangays comprised of Pembo, Comembo, Cembo, South Cembo, West Rembo, East Rembo, Pitogo, Rizal, Northside and Southside, after its licenses to operate expired.
Makati City Administrator Atty. Claro Certeza said the city of Taguig had a prior knowledge of the closure of health centers in EMBO barangays before they were shut down on 29 December.
The need to secure the license to operate is needed by the EMBO health centers which was reminded to them by the Metro Manila Center for Health Development of the Department of Health in a letter dated 21 November 2023.
Certeza said Taguig seemed to be pretending that Makati is giving them a difficult time thus he asked the city who between Makati and Taguig are the ones sacrificing the lives and future of EMBO residents in the name of political interest.
The Makati City official clarified that a License to Operate is needed for health facilities to provide diagnostic services because aside from consultation, diagnostic services are included in the services being given by Makati health centers located in the affected barangays.
Certeza explained Taguig has flatly refused all proposals coming from Makati to ensure uninterrupted access to health services in the EMBO barangays.
The health centers are located in Barangays Cembo, Comembo, East Rembo, Pembo, Pitogo, Rizal, South Cembo and West Rembo.
On Monday, residents of the 10 barangays whose jurisdiction was transferred from Makati City to Taguig City are no longer allowed to use their yellow cards which provided them government-subsidized health care.
Earlier, the city government of Makati has disclosed that Taguig refused to enter into a memorandum of agreement regarding the properties owned and managed by the city.
Likewise, the proposed data sharing agreement was also thumbed down and pushed with its claim that they own the public facilities constructed by Makati and the land on which these facilities have been built.
Makati City reiterated that the Supreme Court decision only covers political jurisdiction as it is about political territory, not ownership.
The more than 200,000 residents of the affected barangays have expressed their uncertainties for the kind of health services they would get from Taguig City government after the city government of Makati opted to closed-down the health centers.
Certeza said Makati Mayor Abby Binay, in a letter to Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano, proposed an agreement regarding the transfer of healthcare services and facilities at the Ospital ng Makati.
In the proposed agreement, Makati offered Taguig a substantial credit line that would allow the affected residents caught in the territorial dispute to still access essential healthcare services at OsMak.
The credit line would enable Taguig to provide healthcare services to its residents without immediate upfront payments.
But Cayetano refused to even consider the proposal and opted to put off any discussions about OsMak.
In another letter, Binay also offered Cayetano the option to lease or purchase the land of the eight health centers located in the barangays previously under Makati's jurisdiction.
