Separate panel probe into cost of new Senate building sought

The new Senate building under construction in Taguig City  as of July last year based on a photo posted by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on its Facebook page.

MANILA, Philippines — A separate probe into the cost of the Senate’s new building in Taguig City, this time by the chamber’s panel on public information and mass media, is being sought by Sen. Robinhood Padilla. 

Panel head Padilla, in his Senate Resolution No. 1063, said the public’s trust in the Senate as an institution must be maintained amid issues hounding the costs of the new Senate building. 

“Informing the public of the processes undertaken in the construction of the NSB including the increased costs, is necessary to ensure that the public does not lose its trust in the Senate as an institution,” Padilla’s resolution reads. 

“There is a need to let the public know of the partner contractors, if any, and subcontractors of Hilmarc’s Construction Corp,” it adds. 

The Senate panel on accounts headed by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano began its own probe on July 3.

The first hearing was marred by a heated exchange between Cayetano and Sen. Nancy Binay, who previously headed the panel on accounts. 

In the same hearing, Cayetano insisted that the building’s cost would total a whopping P23 billion.

Binay, however, cited the Department of Public Works and Highways’ data, which showed that it would only reach about P21 billion. 

To recall, Padilla also sought the suspension of the proceeding after Binay and Cayetano’s exchange became personal.

Cayetano, however, said he wanted Binay to have a chance to explain the establishment’s funding.

The issues surrounding the building first erupted after Senate President Francis Escudero ordered a review of the establishment’s cost. 

This was after he was informed by Cayetano about an apparent “dramatic increase” in the building’s construction fee from an initial budget of P8 billion to a projected P23.3 billion.