Senate urged to move to QC

The Senate may relocate to another Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) property in Quezon City.

The Quezon City government has offered a three-hectare idle lot in the Philcoa area as a possible location for a new Senate building.

The property in Diliman which is owned by GSIS is located at the corner of Elliptical Road and Commonwealth Avenue near Philcoa Citimall.

In a statement, Mayor Herbert Bautista said he had ordered city hall officials to inform Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile of the 29,567-sq m lot which used to be part of the first National Government Center.

“The GSIS property at Philcoa is a good location for the Senate of the Philippines, that’s why we should offer this to the Senate President to be the upper chamber’s permanent home,” he added.

The proposed site is about seven kilometers from the House of Representatives complex in Batasan Hills.

The Senate is looking for a new home which is closer to the House for better coordination among legislators.

The Senate is currently housed in the GSIS complex on Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City.

Bautista said the site is suitable because the Philcoa GSIS property is considered as an institutional zone under the city’s zoning ordinance.

He also expressed hope that the Senate’s transfer to Quezon City would bring economic benefits and boost the development of the city’s own Central Business District.