MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Vicente Sotto III led yesterday the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Senate complex at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City.
The project will initially cost about P8.5 billion, consisting of four 11-story towers. It is located at the 1.8-hectare Navy Village administered by the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA).
“Finally, the Senate will have a building of its own. For the past 22 years, we’ve been leasing, and before that, the old Congress building (in Manila) was not ours. They’re only letting us use that,” Sotto told reporters, referring to the building of the Government Service Insurance System in Pasay where the chamber is currently paying some P171 million annually for its cramped location.
Sen. Loren Legarda, chair of the committee on finance, said P1.5 billion has been allocated in the 2018 General Appropriations Act and P1.3 billion in this year’s proposed national budget for the new Senate building.
“This is a milestone in the history of the Philippine Senate, which I’m proud to be part of,” Legarda said.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson, chairman of the committee on accounts, and Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian were the prime movers of the transfer of the Senate to the new location.
In 2017, Gatchalian filed a resolution creating a special committee to look into the feasibility of relocating the Senate and constructing a new building for the purpose.
Lacson said the complex will be fully complete by 2022 but the Senate can already start holding sessions in July 2021 as three towers would have been completed by that time.
The fourth tower was a concession as part of the agreement with the BCDA that can house other institutions like the Commission on Appointments.
The cost of the building complex does not include the purchase of the BCDA property.
He said the Senate was able to purchase the land from the BCDA at P90,000 per square meter payable in 15 years. This means the Senate would have a good “return on investment” in 15 years compared to its annual lease payments to the GSIS.