MATINDING repasuhan ang gagawin ni Sen.Alan Peter Cayetano na siyang pumalit kay Sen. Nancy Binay bilang may hawak sa Senate Committee on Accounts na siyang naatasan na magsagawa ng konstruksyon, mag-aasikaso ng budget at magbabantay sa itinatayong ng Senate building sa siyudad ng Taguig.

“The first thing I want to emphasize is iba ang pwede at iba rin ang dapat. We should not be talking about what is legal only but what is moral. We will audit the funds. We will review everything and make sure to do what is right,” ani Cayetano na nagsabing masusing pagbubusisi ang gagawin niya sa nasabing proyekto matapos lomobo ito mula sa P8.9 na ngayon ay sasampa na sa P23.3 B.

Ayon kay Cayetano, mahalagang busisiiin nila ang nasabing proyekto dahil ito ay magbibigay aniya ng mensahe sa mga Pilipino, dahil sa inaatang sa kanilang kapangyarihan na manita sa proyekto ng gobyerno at dapat aniyang ito ay maging ehemplo.

“Hindi pwede na magsisita sita ang Senado sa mga paggawa ng highways, mga schools tapos pagdating sa mismong building ng Senado hindi natin gagawin yan? Our goal is to show that this is the best functional senate building that will be a symbol of our democratic process,” ani Cayetano.

Niliwanag ng senador mula sa Taguig na wala siyang ibig ipakahulugan na anuman masamang isipin laban kaninuman kundi para sa tama at katotohanan lamang.

“No suspicion nor any speculations. May oversight power ang senado at sa sarili nating building ay dapat mas lalo tayong maging maingat.” ani Cayetano na nagpaliwanag din na walang delay o pagpapahinto na mangyayari para sa Phase 1 at Phase 2 ng nasabing proyekto ngunit kailangan aniyang pagtuunan nila ng pansin ang Phase 3 ayon na rin sa ibinigay na kautusan mismo ni Senate President Francis Chiz Escudero dahil nga sa paglobo ng budget nito.

“We have to start correctly. The new senate building represents our group of learned people. It should be the best quality pero sa tamang cost.” paliwanag ni Cayetano na nagsabi rin na suportado aniya siya ng mga kasamang senador na dapat lamang nilang malaman at maintindihan kung anong dahilan ng pagbabago sa presyo nito.

“Lahat nagulat nung nakita ang cost. Kaya’t kailangan mag review muna tayo kasama ang mga dating staff ni dating Senator Panfilo Lacson and Senator Nancy Binay. Because they play as the custodian of these documents and knowledge. Nagpatawag na kami and dahil tumaas nga ang cost which is now P23.3 B, kasama na sa memo ang third party para magkaroon ng thorough review. ” paglilinaw ni Cayetano.

Nakasaad sa memo ng Overall Budget ang mga sumusunod:

–The core and shell (Phase 1) has an approved budget of Php 8.9 B and the amount awarded between DPWH and HCC is Php 8.067 B. It was stated in the overview budget that the difference between the two amounts was already used for variation orders which is around10% of variation.

Accordingly, while a 10% variation order is allowable, it was observed, based on the documents by the SCT that such the number of variation according to the said report, is alarming.

“Problem: It is perceived that the mistakes made by the contractor, with the inaction or lack of complaint of the project manager (DPWH), is at the financial cost of the Senate as these mistakes are rectified through variation orders which are paid by the Senate,” the document stated.

It was stated on the memo that the causes of delays were as follows:

a.) Deviation/variation on the project– the NSB(new senate bldg) project, as observed by the Senate Coordinating Team, were riddled withdeviation withthe Terms of Referrence (tor) and variation order–which include: the lack of water proofing in the tiles as well as the failure to observe the proper ceiling heights. The constructor failed to follow technical specifications and the implementing agency, the DPWH, as the project manager failed to question and call the attention of the contractor.

b.) Procurement–In connection with the deviations and variation, it was ovserved that DPWH had procured items not yet for implementation or in the inverse there were items not yet procured but laready needed for implementation. SCT has observed several times that materials shown by DPWH for approval to the senators for procurement were way beyond the indicated budget for such materials. Such materials wee always rejected.

c.) DPWH’s Bureaucracy–since there are deviation and variations in the project covered by a Design and Build project, a new design for that portion with variation is necessary. It was found out that there was lack of coordination between the Burea of Design of the DPWH and the Unified Project Management offices.

d.)Slow Down Order– Since there are deviations that are need to be rectified, the SCT would not approve payment fo rthe variation orders issued by the DPWH as a means to compel HCC and DPWH to rectify those deviations. This placed the Senate in a difficult position where it has to choose between paying for the contractor’s/DPWH’s mistakes in order to gain time or withhold payment in order to compel the rectification but at the cost of timeliness.

Sa kasalukuyan, si Sen.Binay ang siyang chair ng Committee on Sustainable Development Goal.

Giniit ni Binay na ang nasabing gusali ay magiging simbolo ng lahat ng mga gusali ng gobyerno gayundin ang mga standard na dapat sundin at gayahin na isang green building na istraktura na inaasahang paggagayahan ng iba.