Firm dragged into Makati scandal to rush Drilon pet project in Iloilo

DRILON

ILOILO CITY—A construction firm accused of taking part in the overpricing of the Makati City Hall Building II is having no such controversy in its contract to finish a pet project of Senate President Franklin Drilon in this city, the Iloilo Convention Center (ICC), which is envisioned to be the site of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meetings that this city will host in September.

Officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said they had asked Hilmarc’s Construction Corp. (HCC) to speed up work on the second phase of the ICC to finish it in time for the Apec meetings.

Edilberto Tayao, DPWH Western Visayas director, said the second phase of the P747-million ICC should be completed before the July target completion date.

Tayao said additional amenities would be installed and landscaping would be carried out before the scheduled Apec ministerial meetings on Sept. 21 to 25 (on small and medium enterprises) and Sept. 28 to Oct. 26 (on food security and blue economy).

The second phase of the project, which HCC won in a bidding last month, involves mainly finishing works including the installation of power, water and glass fixtures, two escalators and three elevators.

It has a completion period of 150 days but Tayao said the DPWH directed HCC to compress its schedule. HCC is also the contractor of the Makati City Hall Building II that Senators Alan Peter Cayetano, Antonio Trillanes IV and Aquilino Pimentel III said had been overpriced by as much as P2 billion.

Government and business leaders of Iloilo are anticipating the completion of the ICC as this is expected to attract international and national conventions, conferences and other tourism events. These events are expected, in turn, to boost economic activity and development.

The ICC is a pet project of Drilon, who channeled his Disbursement Acceleration Program fund allocation from Malacañang to its completion.

The completion of the ICC, however, has been delayed due to failure of bidding and amid graft allegations which the DPWH and other government agencies and officials have repeatedly denied.

HCC also won the contract for the first phase of the project through negotiated procurement.

The P747-million ICC is being built on a 1.7-hectare lot donated by giant real estate developer Megaworld Corp. at the Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao District.

The ICC will be turned over to the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (Tieza), an agency under the Department of Tourism, upon completion, according to Tayao.

The Tieza had said it will enter into a lease, operation management and maintenance contract with a private firm to run the ICC through public bidding or negotiated procurement.