MANILA, Philippines — Senator Antonio Trillanes IV wants Hilmarc’s Construction Corp. that bagged the controversial Makati City Hall 2 parking building project to be placed under a “provisional blacklist” and for government agencies dealing with Hilmarc’s to withhold their payments to the firm.
Trillanes made these requests during the ongoing hearing of the Senate blue ribbon committee on Thursday into the allegedly overpriced parking building.
“Can you inform or tell Secretary (Rogelio “Babes”) Singson that in the meantime that obviously the engineering practices of Hilmarc’s are highly irregular, can you put them on the provisional blacklist and for the COA (Commission on Audit), can you instruct the different government agencies dealing with Hilmarc’s to withhold, further payments until we resolve this issue?” the senator told Engineer Edgar Garces, division chief of the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) Bureau of Construction, who attended the Senate probe.
Trillanes lamented that Hilmarc’s made a “very unsound” decision when they built the foundation of the parking building without seeing the entire plan of the project.
Before this, Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano grilled Engineer Efren Canlas, chairman of the board and incorporator of Hilmarc’s, over the latter’s testimony that he did not see the entire plan for the construction of the 11-story building when they bid out for the Phase 1 of the building.
The Phase 1 of the project only covered the foundation of the building. Hilmarc’s cornered all 5 phases of the project.
But Cayetano pointed out that the building permit that Canlas himself had signed clearly stated that the project would be composed of 10 floors.
Canlas confirmed signing the permit but said it was the architect of the building that filled up the description of the project.
Even after Trillanes’ suggestion to put them on the provisional blacklist, Canlas insisted that the 5-phase project went through the bidding process.
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