Senate mulls transfer to Fort Bonifacio

The Senate is  looking for a permanent home and considering a one-hectare property inside Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City, according to Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

Lacson, Senate accounts committee chair, held a public hearing on Wednesday to hear the presentation of Bases Conversion Development Authority chair Vince Hizon on three possible sites under BCDA jurisdiction.

Speaking to reporters later, Lacson said the Navy Village lot at Fort Bonifacio appeared to be the “viable option.”

He noted that legal issues concerning the lot had already been resolved after the Supreme Court awarded ownership to the BCDA.

“From an investment perspective, the lot is a viable one because it is in an area with fast development and the cost of the property is rising,” he said. The land’s market value is now pegged at P90,000 per square meter.

“Hopefully, this year we would finish (the deal) and we can start construction in 2018,” he said, adding that the Senate can move there by 2020.

Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said the Senate pays a P170-million lease yearly for a 29,000-sq-m space at the GSIS Complex in Pasay City.