BY PRINCE GOLEZ
Manila Reporter
MANILA – The Binays benefitted from the construction of overpriced buildings in Makati City, according to lawyer-complainant Renato Bondal in yesterday’s Senate investigation on the alleged overpricing of the Makati city car park building.
If Bondal were to be believed, the overpricing was achieved by splitting the project contract which is prohibited under the Government Procurement Reform Act.
Bondal, who charged Vice President Jejomar Binay and Makati City mayor Junjun Binay with plunder before the Ombudsman, said the Makati City Hall (Building I), Ospital ng Makati (OsMak) and the Makati Science High School building cost more than they should.
“Sa mga proyekto ng Makati City, chop-chop ang bidding. Walang bini-bidding na tunay na halaga. Mahigpit na ipinagbabawal ang pag-split ng contract,” said Bondal.
But insisting that there was no overpricing in the construction of the alleged P2.7-billion Makati car park (Building II), Mayor Binay said it also features offices, function halls, elevators, and modern amenities.
It’s not just a mere parking building, the mayor said, but an office building with car parking spaces.
“Dahil sa nadiskubre namin sa car park building, sinimulan din namin tingnan ang ibang buildings. Ang Makati City Hall Building 1 overpriced ng P7 billion. OsMak, Phase 2 pa lang, P2 billion na. Ang Makati Science, isa din ‘yan,” said Bondal.
In a previous interview, Binay tried to justify the car park building’s cost by comparing it with the P700-million, two-storey Iloilo Convention Center in Iloilo City.
“Kung tama ang figure na-compute namin, P109,000 per square meter for a two-storey structure for an area of only about 6,400. Compare that to our (Makati City Hall Building II) which is about 33,000 square meters ang area,” he said.
The car park building has a total area of 31,928 square meters, he added.
But Bondal said the building was overpriced by as much as “300 percent.”
To stress the overpricing, Bondal compared the 11-storey car park building to the much higher 46-storey Shang Grand Tower also in Makati City, which only cost P2 billion to build, and the higher 57-storey The Residences at Greenbelt, built at P2.8 billion.
“Base sa 2007 prices, dapat P23,000 per square meter ang car park building pero naging P84,000 per square meter ang halaga nito,” said Bondal.
The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee was asked to subpoena the engineering details, bidding documents and design of other buildings that the Makati City government built.
Sen. Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV, who sought for the Makati parking building investigation, also asked for the procurement documents for the other buildings believed to be overpriced.
Bondal said the local government of Makati City also padded the cost of cakes being distributed to senior citizens during their birthday.
“Nagkakahalaga ng mahigit P1,000 ang birthday cake na ipinamimigay sa mga senior citizens,” said Bondal, adding that a Red Ribbon cake only costs P570 while a Goldilocks cake, P390.
But Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, who headed the investigation, told the complainant to just “skip” the cake issue because it was not part of the resolution filed by Trillanes.
Mayor Binay refuted the cake allegation, saying the price mentioned by Bondal was “not the price reflected in our documents.”
He also said, “Ang ginawa namin world-class building na pinakikinabangan ng empleyado at mga residente ng Makati.”/PN
