GUIHULNGAN CITY, Negros Oriental — Patients admitted to the Gov. William "Billy" Villegas Memorial Hospital (GWBVMH) are being told to bring their own folding beds as dengue cases overwhelm the facility's wards — and a ₱99.9-million project meant to build and upgrade the hospital stands as an unfinished concrete skeleton, already past its original contract deadline.
Wards Overwhelmed, Patients Asked to Bring Own Beds
The GWBVMH announced through its official Facebook page that its wards had been filled beyond capacity by dengue patients. The hospital warned that patients transferred from the emergency room may face delays in bed assignment.
Where no beds were available, the hospital said it was requesting patients to come with folding beds, framing the measure as a means of continuing to accept admissions even at full capacity. The hospital also appealed to the public — particularly parents of young children — to apply mosquito repellent and adopt other preventive measures against dengue.
Philsouth Builders Inc. Holds the ₱99.9-M Contract
The construction project is officially listed as "Design and Build for the Construction/Improvement of Governor William 'Billy' Villegas Memorial Hospital," under Contract ID B-45-2025, implemented by the Office of the Provincial Engineer of Negros Oriental.
Philsouth Builders Inc. is the contractor on record. According to the Province's invitation to bid, the contract was awarded at ₱99,899,502.77, against an approved budget of ₱100 million, with funding sourced from Sangguniang Panlalawigan Resolution No. 622, General Fund, CY 2024.
The Commission on Audit's 2024 Annual Audit Report on the Province identifies the project as one of seven financed through ₱5.85 billion in joint loans signed on February 16, 2024 with the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines, according to that report.
Original 540-Day Period Lapsed September 17, 2026
The Province's Procurement Monitoring Report as of June 30, 2025 shows that bids were opened on March 11, 2025. The Notice of Award followed on March 20, the contract was signed on March 26, and the Notice to Proceed was issued on March 27, 2025.
Reckoned from the Notice to Proceed date, the original 540-calendar-day contract term expired on September 17, 2026. No approved time extension, suspension order, or variation order appeared in the public records reviewed by this publication. Should any such document exist, the target completion date would be different from the original deadline.
Site Visit Finds Concrete Frame, Blank Signboards
Reporters from Breaking News Negros Oriental visited the construction site on September 25, 2026 — eight days after the lapse of the original contract period. Concrete columns and beams were in place, but no roof, finished flooring, or exterior walls were visible beyond a low hollow-block boundary. An excavator was parked on the premises.
Signboards erected at the site contained blank spaces where "Date Started," "Target Completion Date," and "Percentage of Completion" should have been filled in — all left empty.
Six Dengue Deaths Recorded in Negros Oriental
The Department of Health-Negros Island Region (DOH-NIR) reported a total of 4,972 dengue cases across the region from January 1 to September 19, 2026, representing a 33-percent decline from the same period in 2025, the DOH-NIR said. Despite the drop in case count, however, six dengue-related deaths were recorded in Negros Oriental within the same timeframe.
A DOH-NIR official cited delayed hospital consultations — patients arriving too late in the progression of their illness — as a contributing factor to the higher fatality count.
Capacity Impact of Delayed Project Remains Unclear
The hospital's public appeal leaves open a question that available public records do not resolve: what volume of additional ward space and bed capacity the ₱99.9-million project was designed to deliver, and whether timely completion could have eased the current overflow.
A finished building alone does not produce functional hospital beds — equipment, staffing, and regulatory licensing are separately required before new wards can receive patients. The project's approved architectural plans and official accomplishment reports, neither of which were accessible in the public records reviewed by this publication, would indicate what the contract promised and how much physical work has been accomplished.
As of the time of publication, the provincial government had not released any public statement addressing either the construction delay or the bed shortage at the hospital.
Source: Breaking News Negros Oriental (breakingnewsnegror.com)