Employees of the Philippine Orthopedic hospital and other social and health groups asked the Philippine Supreme Court (SC) to stop the construction of the new project under the PPP model.

They said the government has abandoned its duty to provide and ensure a basic social service such as health to private entity at the expense of the poor and underprivileged.

The petition, which called for the issuance of a preliminary injunction, also assailed the use of the Build Operate Transfer (BOT) law to privatize health services, instead of limiting it to the construction or rehabilitation of hospitals and facilities.

In December, 2013 the Philippine consortium formed by Megawide Construction Corp. and World Citi Inc. has been declared the winner for the Philippine Orthopedic Center (POC) PPP project. The consortium bid P5.672 billion (US$131 million) for the project, which the government had said would cost P5.7 billion (US$131.5 million). The consortium was the only bidder for the project.

The POC project involves the increase in bed capacity from the current 300 beds to 700 beds, the modernized POC will require a total of 1,575 staff from its present 927 staff or a hefty 70% increase in employment.