Zubiri rules out irregularity in new Senate building

Sen. Juan Miguel “Migz” F. Zubiri —Bibo Nueva España/Senate PRIB

BALER, AURORA, Philippines — Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri reiterated on Monday that all government procurement rules were followed in the construction of the new Senate building in Taguig City, as he welcomed the review that his successor, Senate President Francis Escudero, had ordered.

“Everything [regarding this project] is above board,” Zubiri told reporters after leading the 22nd Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day celebration here.

“Members of the Senate staff will not sign documents that did not go through the [mandated] process. No proper bidding or proper transparency and accountability? We will never agree to that,” he said.

READ: Probe into Senate building set on July 3; DPWH told to submit documents

The former Senate leader made the remarks two days before the Senate accounts committee, now chaired by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, was set to open a public hearing on the multibillion-peso project.

Asked if there were irregularities in the project, Zubiri replied: “Of course not, absolutely none.”

According to him, his predecessor, former Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, and former Sen. Panfilo Lacson would not allow any illegal practice to taint the project, which was first proposed by the latter in 2017.

Both Sotto and Lacson, he pointed out, were known to be “sticklers for accountability and transparency.”

“When I inherited the project … after I became Senate President, I made it clear that everything should be transparent and above board … and consistent with the government procurement law,” Zubiri said.

He added that he was confident that Sen. Nancy Binay, who took over supervision of the project from Lacson, was able to ensure there would be no misappropriation of public funds and that the safety and security of the building would not be compromised.

“I think she has done a great job,” Zubiri said of Binay.

Binay earlier rued Escudero’s decision to suspend the project even before she could formally turn over its supervision to Cayetano. Escudero cited the building’s ballooning cost, from P8.9 billion to P23.3 billion, but clarified he was not saying there were irregularities in the project.

Zubiri defended the decision of the 24-member chamber to pursue the construction of the 11-story, four-tower structure during the 17th Congress, which counted both Escudero and Cayetano as members then.

He noted that the Senate or its equivalent legislative body in other countries all have their own headquarters.

The Senate of the Philippines, he lamented, had been spending nearly P500 million a year renting the old building owned by the Government Service Insurance System in Pasay City.