Pinahihinto muna ni Senate President Chiz Escudero ang construction ng bagong Senate building. Pinare-review niya ang lumobo umanong gastos ng proyekto.
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24 Oras is GMA Network’s flagship newscast, anchored by Mel Tiangco, Vicky Morales and Emil Sumangil. It airs on GMA-7 Mondays to Fridays at 6:30 PM (PHL Time) and on weekends at 5:30 PM. For more videos from 24 Oras, visit http://www.gmanews.tv/24oras.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Senate President Cheese Escudero paused the construction of the new Senate building.
00:06 He reviewed the ongoing costs of the project.
00:09 This is the answer of other senators and DPWH in the testimony of Ian Cruz.
00:14 [Music]
00:16 This is the new house of the Senate in Navy Village, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig,
00:23 on a land that has a size of more than 18,000 square meters.
00:26 The original cost of the new Senate building project is almost 9 billion pesos.
00:31 But now, Senate President Cheese Escudero stopped any construction work here
00:36 after discovering that the cost of this project is almost three times higher than the original budget.
00:44 From the original budget of 8.9 billion pesos, it has increased to 13 billion pesos.
00:53 And to finish this, it needs to add 10 billion or in total 23 billion pesos.
01:05 For me, it's a bit heavy and surprising.
01:11 At the flag-raising ceremony earlier, Escudero also said that he is being asked to study
01:16 why the cost of the project has increased.
01:19 I ordered Senator Cayetano, based on his recommendation and letter,
01:23 to remove any construction work that we have not studied and examined.
01:30 Is the cost correct? Is there a way to reduce the cost?
01:35 In the sponsorship speech of Senator Ping Lackson in 2017,
01:41 he said that it's time for the Senate to have its own house
01:44 so that they can have enough space and because the cost of land is already high in the current GSIS building.
01:53 In 2019, the Department of Public Works and Highways and contractor Hillmarks
01:59 signed a 8 billion peso contract for the design and construction of the house.
02:04 After that, it will have four towers with 11 floors and three basements for minimum parking of 1,200 vehicles.
02:14 But Escudero told the Senate employees,
02:17 I talked to most of you and you saw that you will move offices.
02:22 And according to you, it seems smaller compared to the offices you have now.
02:27 Why do we move to a bigger and better one when it's smaller and still lacks space?
02:33 Escudero clarified that he did not see any irregularities,
02:37 although he was surprised by the importance of construction.
02:42 I'm not saying anything. I'm just letting you know that we should know and know
02:49 because isn't it a bit embarrassing for you to put this much importance for a government building?
02:56 Maybe it's equivalent to the expensive and luxurious buildings that we can see in Makati and BGC.
03:03 Escudero also said that it's up to Senator Alan Peter Cayetano,
03:07 the new chairman of the Senate Committee on Accounts, to explain to former chairman of the committee,
03:13 Senator Nancy Binay, the committee on accounts in charge of all the expenses of the Senate.
03:18 In an interview, Binay said that he was surprised by the source of the information of Escudero.
03:25 He said that the Senate's floor was clear that 8.9 billion pesos is for the house itself
03:32 and that the interior, furniture and equipment are not included.
03:36 If Escudero could have talked to them,
03:39 he could have given clearer and more accurate information than the Senate President read in the news.
03:47 In another statement, Lackson clarified that the former chairman of the committee on accounts
03:51 of DPWH is the implementing agency of the project.
03:55 He said that it will submit cost estimates and changes to the project
04:00 but it's up to the Senate to accept it.
04:03 He said that he knows that Binay and his team are pushing for the additional 10.3 billion pesos
04:09 that DPWH is asking for, so PISO has no award for it.
04:15 He added that it's hard to think of a smaller new Senate building than the current Senate office
04:21 because he also gave the request to include 65 regional senators that were being appointed then.
04:29 DPWH Undersecretary Emil Sadain said that there is no irregularity in the new Senate building.
04:36 The cost of the construction will not reach P23 billion pesos.
04:41 All in all, the only fund that is there is only phase one and phase two, which is P11.10 billion pesos.
04:49 And the P5.7 billion pesos is still under review by the Senate committee team with DPWH for the completion.
04:58 So if you include the P5.7 to the P11.10, that's only P16.8 billion all in all.
05:06 So there's no such thing as P23 billion pesos.
05:09 For GMA Integrated News, Ian Cruz, Nakatuto, Pentecpato Oras.
05:13 [MUSIC]