Senators vote 14-2 to relocate to BGC
Senators voted yesterday to transfer the Senate from its cramped space in the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) complex in Pasay City to a two-hectare property in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig and construct an iconic building to house the chamber.
Fourteen senators voted in favor of the transfer to BGC while two others –Sens. Risa Hontiveros and Paolo Benigno Aquino III – cast their votes for the alternative site in Antipolo City in Rizal.
The transfer was prompted by the resolution filed by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian creating a special committee to study the feasibility of the construction of a new Sen- ate building and relocation of the chamber.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson, chairman of the committee on accounts, chairs the panel and has conducted hearings on the matter since last year.
Yesterday, he sought a vote on whether or not to transfer the Senate. After the senators agreed to the transfer, Sen. Richard Gordon moved to relocate the chamber to BGC and won.
Lacson said the plan to move the Senate to another location has been on the drawing board for 17 years or since 1996, shortly after the chamber was ejected from the National Museum in Manila.
“Mr. President, distinguished colleagues, it is about time that we turn this long-standing dream into reality. If we do not take action now, I am afraid that there will only be talks and talks, again and again, about this matter in the future till kingdom come. And I tell you, it will be a never-ending comic cycle,” Lacson addressed his colleagues before the voting.
“I urge you to support our goal of finally building a home for the Senate, whose members’ voices represent the greater interests of the people, whose great minds craft meaningful legislation and whose humble service builds the arsenals of democracy,” he said.
He said it was about time the Senate had “a dignified home rightful of its honor and legacy.”
The senator said from May 1, 1996 to this year, the total office rental fees paid to GSIS and the Social Security System, which owns a small portion where the Senate sits, amounted to P2.24 billion.
He said the amount was enough to construct an iconic and permanent Senate building.
He said a survey of Senate employees also showed they preferred Taguig over Antipolo.
The lot offered by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) is located at the former Navy Village.
The agreement proposed by the BCDA is in the nature of an option contract where the Senate has the choice to purchase the lot valued at P90,000 per square meter. The BCDA is offering to sell it at P1.8 billion payable in 10 years or more.