Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escuderoo said the construction of the New Senate Building had been delayed even before he ordered the suspension. Escudero pointed this out after Sen. Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri appealed to his leadership to conduct a Senate inquiry on the matter soon to avoid further delays in its construction.
The Senate chief, however, insisted that the Senate inquiry to be held by the Committee on Accounts, is not the reason why its construction is delayed, noting that such situation happened because the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has issued a slowdown order on the project. “They should have mentioned that the DPWH issued a slowdown order because there have been differences with the contractors and DPWH regarding some defects that were dine or had been done or due to some mistakes,” Escudero said in Filipino in an interview on Monday, July 1. “And because they are not receiving payment, there was a slowdown,” he pointd out.
Escudero also said it was not the scheduled review or hearing that is the cause of the delays but the slowdown order from the DPWH. Escudero also clarified they did not suspend the P8.9 billion original amount that was negotiated, but only the additional P10 -billion required for the completion of the building which has yet to be implemented in the first place.
“Precisely because we see the need for a review and find out why the amount became that high just to finish the new building,” he pointed o.
