President Benigno Aquino III led the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Supreme Court (SC) complex that will be constructed in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.
After the laying of the time capsule, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno presented to Aquino the SC Marker, which was placed at the site to signal the start of the construction.
Aquino, Sereno and associate justices witnessed the signing of the contract to sell between representatives of the SC, clerk of court En Bank Atty. Felipe Anama and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) chief executive officer Arnel Paciano Casanova.
Also present at the event were Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and former chief justice Artemio Panganiban.
The 21,463 square meter property, worth P1,1287,780,000, is within the former Philippine Army Security Escort Group Area. Of the said amount, P1,159,002,000 is included in the National Expenditure Program for 2016, while the P128,778,000 is appropriated under the SC budget in the General Appropriations Act of 2015.
An earlier report from Inquirer said P122.73 million was allotted for architectural and engineering design.
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Last year, the SC and the BCDA signed a memorandum of understanding for the purchase of the lot, approved through an SC En Banc resolution.
The SC is currently housed in a building along Padre Faura Street in Manila. However, the property is owned by the University of the Philippines.
Sereno and SC spokesperson Theodore Te said it’s about time that the high court has a building of its own. Kristine Angeli Sabillo, INQUIRER.net/CDG