Belmonte to Binay: Don’t compare House to garage-like Makati building

House speaker Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte, Jr. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO/HOTARU NIITSU

MANILA, Philippines—Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. took a swipe at Vice President Jejomar Binay who compared his allegedly overpriced Makati City car park with two  pricey buildings at the House of Representatives.

In an interview on Thursday, Belmonte said Binay should not compare the lower chamber’s first-class buildings with Binay’s allegedly overpriced building, which he likened to a “garage.”

“He mentioned they’re about comparable price. Kung comparable price man, hindi garahe ito (It cannot be comparable in price because what we have are not garages),” Belmonte said.

He said the buildings in the House of Representatives are first-class, unlike Binay’s building.

“They’re office buildings with first-class materials used and they’re open for all of you to take a look and judge for yourself,” Belmonte said.

In a televised speech, Binay addressed the overpricing allegations on the Makati City Hall Building 2 built when he was mayor in 2007. He said the price of this building is comparable to that of other world-class buildings like Senate President Franklin Drilon’s Iloilo Convention Center, and the House of Representatives Annex building and the newly renovated North Lounge Extension.

“The price of Makati City Hall Building 2 is P69,549.00 per square meter. This is lower than the price of P74,751.00 per square meter for the Batasang Pambansa Annex Building, and the  P105,000.00 per square meter of the Iloilo Convention Center, which is just in its first stage or Phase I,” Binay said.

“Why are they saying the Makati City Hall Building 2 is overpriced when its cost is almost the same as those of similar public buildings?” he added.

Belmonte said House minority leader Rep. Ronaldo Zamora urged him to speak up on the issue. Zamora has been hinted as being behind the alleged smear campaign in the form of a “white paper” against the Binays, including Binay’s daughters Senator Nancy Binay and Makati Rep. Abigail Binay.

“Out of politeness to Vice President, ayoko sagutin, pero one of the officers of the House, Ronnie Zamora, dapat sagutin mo yan. Our offices are different,” Belmonte said.

Belmonte, however, defended Hilmarc’s Construction Corp., which built both Binay’s building and the House of Representatives’ Mitra building.

“I think Hilmarc is not a bad contractor. I myself, from a workmanship point of view, okay naman kung opisina pinagawa mo. Kung garahe pinagawa mo, ibang usapan naman ‘yun,” he said.

Binay and his son, incumbent Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay Jr., face a plunder complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman for the allegedly overpriced building.

The building was worth P2.3 billion but complainants said according to National Statistics Office data, the cost should have only been P245.6 million.

The Senate, led by Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Antonio Trillanes IV, is conducting a probe on the alleged overpricing. Both Cayetano and Trillanes, just like Vice President Binay, have openly expressed their intention to run for higher positions in the 2016 elections.

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