Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno Domagoso on Tuesday, August 19, announced that the old Ospital ng Maynila building will be transformed into the new Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) Academic Building for Health Sciences.
The plan fulfills a vision first laid out during his earlier term, when the city built a new 10-storey Ospital ng Maynila to replace the aging facility.
Speaking at a PLM Board of Regents meeting, Domagoso said the project aims to address the growing demand for space in the university and to expand its capacity to produce more health professionals.
“We will continue producing more doctors, we will continue helping in nation-building,” he said, warning that “the growth of PLM in production of quality students will be stunted in the absence of space.”
During his first term, Mayor Domagoso completed major projects such as Tondominium 1 and 2, Binondominium, the new Ospital ng Maynila, the Manila Zoo, several housing developments, and the rehabilitation of key public schools—all within two years at the height of the pandemic.
The new PLM campus, he said, will be pursued with the same speed and focus.
Domagoso said the city government will retrofit and redesign the old hospital to house classrooms, laboratories, and technical equipment needed by students.
“This is not just about the building, it’s about the school,” he stressed, adding that “we want to finish it in the next two years.”
The Mayor also explained that initial consultations suggested only redesigning the structure, but later assessments showed retrofitting was needed.
“Kailangan pala i-retrofit at i-redesign… we wanted to put laboratories, technical equipment that will be needed by our students,” he said.
Domagoso thanked the PLM Board of Regents as well as the city’s engineers and architects, saying their input shaped the project’s plans.
“For the past, we give thanks to the PLM Board of Regents, and our architects and engineers who have been talking to you, sharing ideas and conceptualizing this building,” he said.
