Solons look for signs of overpricing in Makati Science HS inspection
R24.6- million price tag for each of the 54 classrooms and laboratories of the “special public secondary school” was not justified.
“The building itself… maganda naman (it looks good). But the question is, did we pay the right price?” Trillanes said. “Comparing it with DepEd ( Department of Education) standards, (the cost) is definitely high.”
“Definitely not ( justified). Even five-star hotels won’t cost that much to build a room. If the rooms were extraordinarily impressive, it could justify the cost. But based on what we saw…the classrooms are really ordinary,” Trillanes stressed.
However, Pimentel declined to comment on the alleged overpricing, simply telling reporters that “an ocular inspection won’t be able to answer the issue immediately.”
Saturday’s inspection was an offshoot of the Blue Ribbon subpanel’s investigation on the purportedly overpriced Makati City Hall Building II, which, along with MSHS, was constructed during Vice President Jejomar Binay’s tenure as Makati mayor.
Lawyer Renato Bondal in last week’s subpanel hearing revealed that the
billion MSHS, which began construction in 2007, was overpriced by almost 300 percent at a cost of per square meter. The school is 18,373 square meters large.
Bondal had earlier filed plunder charges against Binay and his son, incumbent Makati Mayor Junjun Binay.
An erstwhile ally of the political family, ex-Makati vice mayor Ernesto Mercado, had claimed before the subcommittee that both Binays earned kickbacks from infrastructure projects in the city, which is among the country’s wealthiest.
Binay unperturbed
The camp of Vice President Jejomar C. Binay on Saturday expressed confidence that the allegation that the Makati Science High School is overpriced will not pass scrutiny in a court of law.
This as Binay's spokesman Joey Salgado maintained that the construction of Makati Science High School "underwent public bidding as required by law" and the allegation that it is overpriced is just based on "guesswork."
"The project also passed audit by the Commission on Audit ( COA). But on the mere say so of Renato Bondal and a cursory inspection, the senators have already made conclusions of overpricing which is to be expected since they have pre-judged the issue from the start," Salgado said in a statement.
Salgado issued the statement after Pimentel and Trillanes inspected the structure for signs of overpricing.
"As we have said before, Bondal's outrageous claim is not anchored on logic but on fuzzy math. He conveniently overlooks the fact that the total construction cost includes the cost of the school's foundation, finishing, and facilities," Salgado said.
"His claim of overpricing in both Building 2 and Makati Science High School falls into the same category. It's guesswork or "hula- hula" that won't pass scrutiny in a court of law," he stressed.
Fredrico Cuervo, one of the appraisers that took part in the building inspection, said that MSHS was “not of the same standard as with Ateneo and Xavier” wherein all classrooms are airconditioned.
For nearly two hours, Senators Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV inspected the 10-story10-sto Makati Science High School (MSHS)(MSH building Saturday in Barangay C Cembo looking for signs of supposed overpricing.
TheTh camp of Vice President Jejomar C. Binay, however, stressed that the allegations linking the second highest official of the land to the alleged overpricing are without basis and will not stand in court.
As part of the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee probing two allegedly exorbitantly- built structures in Makati, the two lawmakers walked down the sun-lit halls, sampled wooden seats a tad small for them and peeped inside ceramic tiled classrooms, laboratories, toilets and other facilities of MSHS.
At the end of their ocular inspection, at least one of the senators believed that the