IT is easy to understand why many Filipinos, netizens or not, are enraged upon seeing the luxurious behemoth of an unfinished building in Bonifacio Global Center that is to be the permanent home of the Senate of the Philippines.
The four-tower structure was designed to house 24 senators, their staff, meeting rooms and session hall, among other amenities such as two floors of parking space. It was originally estimated that the building would cost P8.9 billion to construct. And so people are asking now, including former Senate president Tito Sotto and current SP Francis Escudero, why the budget has ballooned to P23.3 billion.
“Shocking and in bad taste,” Escudero said as he announced to the Senate personnel at his first flag ceremony as Senate president, that their use of the building has been delayed by a couple of years more.
There is no question the Senate needs a permanent building that can stand the elements, an edifice that would become the symbol of a revered institution that has been touted as the last bastion of democracy in the country. The Senate is currently renting a building of the Government Service Insurance System near the Mall of Asia reclamation area.
‘By all indications, this glitzy building will ultimately be completed at great expense to the Filipino people…’
SP Escudero has ordered a review of the construction project, with Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, the new chair of the Senate committee on accounts, leading the review with the end in view of cutting down on costs. His committee is responsible for ensuring the smooth transfer of the Senate to the new building and overseeing the project’s quality and timeliness.
Since we have a bicameral legislature, the most ideal arrangement is for the Senate and the House of Representatives to be housed in the same building, just like before. If not, at least their buildings should not be very far from each other. With the House permanently situated in the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City and the Senate in Taguig City, this ideal status as to location will be far from being solved.
It is worth mentioning that the huge architectural design of the edifice reminds us of Las Vegas casinos and resorts, certainly ostentatious for half of the legislature in a still developing economy. Considering that only 24 lucky and honorable people are to use it, the building is indeed massive.
Both the present Senate and its predecessor should explain why the budget for the “core and shell” of this building reached P13 billion from an already high at P8.9 billion, with an additional P10 billion for the interior and fittings, bringing the total to P23.3 billion.
SP Escudero correctly pointed out: “It is shocking and in bad taste that the Senate would spend this much for our new home and office. With the many bills that I am asked to sign, I want to look at it first and check it carefully if it is really appropriate.”
There are many more indelicacies in the Senate building project, especially the details of each senator’s office that have been exposed by a newspaper columnist, so that many thinking Filipinos readily supported the decision of SP Escudero to stop its construction and revisit the architectural plans, budget and other details.
The Senate building is such an abhorrent project that even the Young Guns in the House of Representatives are calling out the senators for their out-and-out ostentation.
The House, of course, is partly to blame because the General Appropriations Act emanates from it every year, year after year.
By all indications, this glitzy building will ultimately be completed at great expense to the Filipino people, to be enjoyed like an eight-star hotel by 24 senators and their staff.
