TOPPING OFF Senators shovel in concrete in the structure of the New Senate Building in Taguig City. —DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS PHOTO
The Senate is hoping to hold sessions at the P8.9-billion New Senate Building (NSB) in Taguig City by next year when the smaller legislative chamber convenes for the third regular session of the 19th Congress, Sen. Nancy Binay said on Thursday.
Binay, chair of the Senate committee on accounts, said the Senate is on target to hold its last regular session at the 1.8-hectare facility at the Navy Village in Fort Bonifacio.
The future Senate complex will consist of four towers with 11 floors each and three basements with a minimum of 1,200 parking spaces to accommodate the required functions and operation of the Senate and its constituents.
“We have instructions from Senate President [Juan Miguel] Zubiri to conduct the opening of session next year at ‘Bagong Senado,’” she said.
Binay joined Zubiri and other officials in a “topping-off” ceremony on Thursday, marking the completion of the building’s structural frame with the installation of the last structural beam, Binay said.
According to Binay, the NSB, which sits on an 18,320-square-meter parcel of land in what used to be a military camp, aims to be one of the first certified “green” buildings under Building for Ecologically Responsive Design Excellence program of the Philippine Green Building Council.
It integrates sustainable features such as energy-efficient systems, water conservation measures and the use of eco-friendly materials. It would also consume between 30 to 50 percent less energy than standard buildings.
“In the face of climate change, the government should walk the talk in promoting the use of sustainable structures,” she said.
Controversy
The Senate leadership conceptualized the project during the 17th Congress (2016-2019) so that the Senate would no longer have to pay more than P100 million in rent to the Government Service Insurance System for space in its building complex in Pasay City.
In 2019, the project was mired in controversy after then Sen. Panfilo Lacson divulged that Hilmarc’s Construction Corp., the winning contractor of the NSB, had been linked to the alleged overpricing of the Makati City Hall building III and the Makati Science High School building.
The structure was supposed to have been completed in 2022 but it was hampered supposedly by the pandemic.
Once completed, it will be the first time for the Senate to have its own building since it vacated the Old Congress Building along Burgos Street near Luneta Park in Manila in 1988.
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