WORLD lillALTH ORGANIZATION RlGIONi~
REGIONALOmCiiiFOR THZ WES'lERN PACIFIC
CO!tfITTEE
WPjRC6/18 9 September 1955
Sixth Session : Singapore 13-19 September 1955 .'
ORIGINiu.. ' ENGLISH
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AccoJoM>ti[\.1'ION FOR '!HE WHO RmIONJU, OFFIC; FOR ,TID WESTIaN" PACIFIC" . . ~ .~
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The Government of the Republic of the Phili?9ines, when tnviting the Regional Otfice for the Western' Pacific to be situated permanent~ in 11anila, assured the Organization that suitable office aocommodation would be provided at '~e expense of the Government. Although'the building furnish,ed by the Government was adequate when the.' office 'was first es~tabii~hed, this, i~ ,~o longer the case, and as activities expanded '~le limitations of, ~e present accommodation beoame:' 'more and m.o~·e: apparent. In 1953 a <pre'-fabricatad building 'had to pe added to'ac,cQtllllloda to the library t,he' conference roan. . .:
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In :Augast. 1954 the ilirector-G.c.nciral askeQ me to develop . plans, for more "adequate office acconmodation arid, :t9 (1xplorepossible '.:carrangeIJl!lrit's, with the Host Government~ . 'At the same tim,a he informed : me that the 5ecretar,y-General of the United Nations had requested lfHO to act, .on behalf of theUnitdd Nations and other speCialized agencies in all deliberations with the Government regarding. accommodation. Negotiations were therefore opened with the' Government in r~gar4 to the erection of a buildi~ l'lhich would not only house the Wl:iO:,Regional, Office but the other United iiations Spe.Cialized,Agenci~s" r'epre8cnted in tne .&?hilipp:!-n,c.s. ,'Ibe general requirements of th~' proposal presenttJd to the Govd~iuncnt were as follows: (a) (b) (c) a gift,.of un~?cumbered land to WHo ·by the GO"IrerlllllentJ "
an outright gift of about buildL'lg and,fiXtures J
50%
of the ,cost of the
tho building cl?sts to be financed by an interest-free loan granted by thEi Government on the remaining 50% to be repaid b,y WHO over 30 years; the tit,leto, ~he land and the bUi,lding to be in the
(d)
namcof WH'O wit.h the organization .maintaining and serviCing thq, building. '
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WP/RC6/18 fage 2 In November 1954 I was ';informed by the Secretary. of . H;qaltll that the request had been endorsed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and had been referred to the Cabinet. ~ Janu~ry 1955, however, an official reply was received from the Govermnent stating that no decision could be taken at the moment in view of the financial commitments involved. The proposal was furlher considered in F9brualY mld March 1955 and I was told that the Organization would be: notified IlD soon as a definite. decision hud. been made • . . Dur:i.ng the Eighth World Health Assembly the matter was 'raised officially by the Chief of the Wew Zealand Delegation who urged that the Philippine Government should be approached again with a view to reaching a definite decision. Negotiations were re-opened with the Government and follow:i.ng a lOOeting of the Cab:i.net in July 1955 the. 6ecretar,y of Health informed the Organization that it had been' decided to donate a fiVE:: hectare tract of land in Quezon City to \lHO. At the same time the Secretar,y of Health was appointed as a one-man committee to negotiate details with the Regional Office. During the negotiations with the Secretar,y of Health it was. learned that Queson City had been selected for two reasons (a) the Philippin~ Central Administration will eventually move to Quezon Cit,y which will then become the capital city; the move may, however, not be completed for six to ten years and (b) the Government owns a considerable amount of land in this area and the selection and size of the site will present less difficulty. vlhile there may be certain advantages in having the office situated near the difftlrent departments and the central administration of the Government when their transfer to Quezon City eventually takes place, these advantages will be greatly offset by the fact that until this transfer occurs the "Regional Office will be a considerable distance outside of Manila. A location in Quezon Cit,y will from the very beginning, and even after the Philippine administration has moved, present operational difficulties and increased cost from a regional office po:i.nt of view. There are at present no hotels in Quezon City, while the distances to the port, airport, banks, travel agencies and other official and commercial enterprises will be greatly increased. FUrther complications will. aris e in rega~d to " the arrival of official visitors from abroad, includ:ing project staff and fellows in transit, and the regional ofticestatf will also be affected b,y the transfer.
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,'If the' 'Regiona:l.' Officf;! should remain in the present building until' ihlf Government :mbves to Quezon City,:'lfhich according to information' received 'will be "from sixlto",tcn years, what,'arrangement could' be JIIIlde ,to' rel1'Cve the present oVtJr~rowded and ,unsatisfactory si tuation1, , '
,~ : These, problems have oeC'n :brought to :. the attention of the Secretary of Health and the 'possibility 9f the Government making available a smaller ,plot of government""Owned land in the centre of Manila has been raised. No official reply has so far beenreoeived and,there is, , therefoz::7tOO further infor~~ion to.,submit to the CoIlJllittee. :,:' ',: .,.
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