Cayetano on Senate building: ‘I just want to get the right price and finish it’
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano has called on the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to convene a “high-level” meeting to expedite the construction of the New Senate Building (NSB).
Cayetano made it a point during the Senate committee on finance’s budget briefing for the proposed 2025 DPWH budget earlier this week to emphasize the importance of the department cooperating transparently.
All I’m asking for is your honesty and a deadline. I just want to get the right price and finish it,” Cayetano, chair of the Senate committee on accounts, told DPWH Sec. Manuel Bonoan.
The senator stressed that transparency in the project review is crucial, so that senators can present it proudly to the public.
Cayetano then asked Bonoan and key officials to hold a high-level meeting to clarify the current timeline and accurate project cost in order to expedite the project.
“We have time to get it done. I just want to let the SP (Senate President Francis Escudero) know three things: one, when are we going to finish it; two, how much is needed for it to be finished; and three, how do we work backward from the time this will be finished and how much is needed to do it,” he added.
Cayetano and Sen. Nancy Binay earlier traded barbs over the cost of the controversial Senate building under construction in Taguig City.
Cayetano launched an inquiry on July 3 after Escudero decided to suspend the project, citing the surge in the building’s price tag from P8.9 billion to a staggering P23.3 billion.
Binay, who as former chair of the panel had supervised the project, maintained the construction cost has reached only P21 billion.
However, the DPWH confirmed later that the total estimated cost of the new Senate building might reach between P25 billion and P27 billion, considering the inflation rate and current prices of construction materials.
Outdated prices
Cayetano earlier noted that the previous price of P23.3 billion, which he and Binay had argued about in the July 3 hearing, was based on 2021 rates and did not reflect the current cost of construction materials.
“In better, cooler heads, including myself, we can come to those numbers. The problem is … I realized that the prices were outdated. So, what we’ve been arguing about is senseless because the total building cost has already exceeded P23 billion,” he said, adding: “Let’s keep our eyes on the ball first. Let’s focus on how we’ll finish the project that is beautiful and with the right cost at soonest possible time. That’s the purpose of this hearing.”
