New Senate building costs P33B – Cayetano

BILLION-PESO PROJECT The new Senate building being built in Taguig as of July last year based on a photo posted by the Department of Public Works and Highways on its Facebook page. — PHOTO FROM DPWH

MANILA, Philippines – The New Senate building in Taguig City costs a whopping P33 billion, according to Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano.

He disclosed it during a press conference on Thursday, clarifying that the P33 billion includes furniture and land. If these are not included, the building alone would cost P31.6 billion.

“The cost estimate to complete the building is based on all information we have today without any design changes,” he said.

“The cost estimate to update the building was updated with 2024 prices and it comes from various sources, suppliers [and] consultants,” he added.

Cayetano said his office had a hard time delving deep into the building’s updated cost.

He also admitted that the building’s cost is unacceptable for him and for Senate President Francis Escudero.

“We’re going to put up a new Senate coordinating committee, but we’re asking the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to mirror what we’re doing,” he added.

According to Cayetano, they are still studying how they can lower the building’s cost, explaining that it will largely be based on materials that would be used.

Earlier, Cayetano and former Senate panel on accounts chair Nancy Binay engaged in a heated debate over the building’s cost.

In a public hearing, Cayetano insisted that the building’s cost would total a whopping P23 billion from an initial budget of P8 billion.

Binay cited the DPWH’s data which showed that it would only reach P21 billion.

The barbs resulted in name-calling and accusations that Binay was providing questions to reporters to discredit her fellow senators.

Days after the argument, Cayetano revealed that the total project cost of the building could balloon from P25 billion to P27 billion considering the inflation rate.

READ: DPWH: NSB total project cost could balloon from P25B to P27B

The issues surrounding the building first erupted after Escudero ordered a review of the cost after Cayetano informed him about an apparent “dramatic increase” in the construction rate.