Alleged overpriced parking building cost P2.2B, says auditor

Photo by Ryan Leagogo/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines–The total cost of the controversial Makati City Hall II parking building was   P2.2 billion, and not   P2.7 billion, a government auditor told a Senate   hearing   on     Wednesday .

“Based on contract review reports of our technical audit specialists, the total cost of the project from Phase 1 to 5 is P2.218 billion. It is not P2.7 billion, it’s P2.2 billion, excluding the furniture,”   Cecilia Caga-Anan, auditor   previously assigned   to   Makati City,   said when she testified     before the Senate   blue ribbon committee.

“Yung fixtures hindi na namin nasama doon. Pati na yung mga elevators and everything kasama doon,”   Caga-Anan said, responding to queries of Senators Antonio Trillanes IV and   Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel   III.

(The fixtures are not   included   there.   But the   elevators   and everything   were included)

The amount cited by the auditor was different   from the   P1.56 billion mentioned in the   plunder and graft charges   filed   against   incumbent Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Jun-Jun”   Binay and his father and namesake,     Vice President Jejomar Binay, along with Caga-Anan, and   other individuals.

The     complainants led   by defeated   mayoralty   bet in Makati,   Renato Bondal, later   corrected   the   amount in the complaint   to P2.7   billion.

Despite this, Caga-Anan maintained that she found   no anomaly   on the   costing of the project.

“Based on existing reports, like the contract review reports, the inspection reports, files of the annual audit report, files of the notice of suspensions, the audit observation memorandum, and the notice of disallowance, wala po kaming nakikita…”   she said, still responding to Trillanes’ query.

But     Commission     on Audit chairperson (COA) chair   Grace Pulido-Tan   said     her office   has not yet   issued     any clearance   on   the questioned   project in Makati.

“Wala po. Wala po kaming clearance na ibinigay at hindi po talaga kami nagbibigay ng clearance to that effect. There’s no such thing,”   Tan said.

“I mean the Commission does not issue clearances of the nature or the tenor that was described,”     she said.

The   COA     chief explained   that     Caga-Anan simply   made a report   in a memorandum submitted to the director   of the   COA’s National Capital Region   local government sector.

“So it is an internal communication your honor and I don’t know how the City of Makati got a copy of it,” Tan said.

“Most of what I heard on the COA was I think taken on this memo which is really just a memorandum, an internal one and is still being evaluated in central office by us. So I would say at this stage, this is just a report and it is being subjected to evaluation along with all the other documents and papers,”   she added.

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