Oca defends City hospital chief

City Mayor Oscar Moreno on Wednesday hinted that Dr. Ramon Nery’s disapproval of some of the City Councilors’ requests may have been the reason of the misunderstandings between the two parties.

Last year, the city councilors slammed Nery over the failure to finish the intensive care unit on time, and just this month, Councilor Reuben Daba said he is not happy with Nery’s absence in the meetings his committee initiates.

But Moreno came to the defense of the hospital chief, pointing out that the councilors should understand that the city hospital is operating 24/7.

“Of course in every organizations, there are always misunderstandings,” he said.

Moreno went on saying that his instruction to all of the city’s department heads, including Dr. Nery is to not hire anyone “simply because you want to give political accommodation”.

“You hire someone because you need the applicant, especially in the health where life is at stake, you just don’t hire anyone who is not qualified. In my case, I give my endorsement to Dr. Nery but he knows that the endorsement is for him to see if the applicant fits the job.

If not, then he should decline the application,” he said.

“It’s not as if because I am the mayor and I give him endorsements, that he is obligated to accept all of that. I hope the City Council understand that,” he added.

Moreno said another possible area of miscommunication is the lack of awareness of both sides.

“It will never be perfect, but that’s the beauty of the system,” he added.

Nery earlier said there is no bad blood between him and the city councilors and even said he “loves” them.