NATION

Marcos inspects rebuilt Guiuan hospital

Elmer Recuerdo · Sep 26, 2026, 3:59 AM

EASTERN Samar Gov. Ralph Vincent Evardone briefs President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on the history of the Felipe Abrigo Memorial Hospital in Guiuan, which was totally destroyed by super typhoon ‘Yolanda’ in 2013. Also in photo are former Gov. Ben Evardone and Dr. Marian Isiderio, provincial health officer. The reconstructed hospital was funded by the national and provincial governments and the Korean government. — Photograph courtesy of PCO

GUIUAN, Eastern Samar — President Ferdinand R. Marcos inspected the newly reconstructed Felipe Abrigo Memorial Hospital (FAMH) in Guiuan, Eastern Samar.

Eastern Samar Gov. Ralph Vincent Evardone led the tour of the President, together with national officials and a delegation from the Embassy of Korea, as they inspected the hospital’s facilities and services.

FAMH, a district hospital operated by the provincial government, was badly damaged by super typhoon “Yolanda” on 8 November 2013, when the storm made its first landfall in Guiuan.

Guiuan Mayor Annaliza Gonzales-Kwan said the typhoon left at least 101 people dead in the municipality.

Marcos was accompanied by former Gov. Ben Evardone, Eastern Samar Rep. Sheen Gonzales, Education Secretary Sonny Angara, Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rex Gatchalian, Health Secretary Edwin Mercado, Korean Ambassador Lee Dong-gy and KOICA Philippines Country Director Jung Youngsun.

The reconstructed hospital is scheduled to open to the public on 7 October, one of the highlights of the town’s fiesta celebrating Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary.

The reconstruction was funded primarily through an $8.76-million grant from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), along with P200 million secured by then-Senator Sonny Angara and more than P109 million from the Eastern Samar provincial government.

FAMH is an authorized 12-bed Level 1 public hospital. The newly opened facility is equipped to provide emergency medicine, general surgery, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, radiology and clinical laboratory services.

The provincial government has also drawn up a five-year development roadmap to add specialized medical units, including an intensive care unit, hemodialysis unit and upgraded imaging services such as CT scan, mammography and laparoscopy.