Highlights of partial blue ribbon subcommittee report

One of the parking areas of the Makati City Hall Building II. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

• The Makati City Hall Building II is “very clearly overpriced.”

• Makati residents paid P2.2B for a building with a market value of P891M, or an overprice of P1.3B.

• While built at P69,549.52/sqm (when it should have cost only P35,260/sqm), it is an average or standard office building.

• The bill of quantities shows an “alarming pattern of overpricing” (toilets per floor cost ranged from P823,953 to P5.6M; building signage cost P974,000; total elevators cost P12.3M; total air-conditioning system cost P21.8M; interior garden cost P2.98M; 2 generators cost P36.3M).

• The Commission on Audit saw “red flags” in its initial audit, but resident auditors and specialists assigned to city hall “miserably failed” to discover these.

• The division of the project into phases constitutes “red flag.”

• It was habitable after Phase 3, but Makati still spent an additional P793.7M for Phases 4 and 5.

• There was no structural plan, and based on mere estimates, cost reached P2.28B.

• Hilmarc’s is a favored contractor.

• Vast property in Rosario, Batangas province, is owned by Vice President Binay.

• A subcommittee investigation showed the commission of a crime of plunder.

• Given that the overprice ranged from P1.1B to P1.3B, such massive accumulation of ill-gotten wealth could only be plunder.

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