By Mario B. Casayuran
The proposed new Senate building to be built at the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) will look like the traditional “bahay kubo’’ but it will be iconic and world-class.
The design will be done by a winner in an international competition to be spearheaded by the Senate Accounts Committee chaired by Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson.
This came after the Senate, by a majority vote, approved a resolution directing Lacson’s committee to conduct a feasibility study on the construction of a new Senate building and relocation of the Senate.
“The new edifice will incorporate Philippine identity,” he said.
In his speech, Lacson said the US Congress, the Palace of Westminster, the Hungarian Parliament Building and the Reichstag Building in Berlin are known globally not only for their architectural design but also for representing the dignity of the parliaments they house, “something which all of us in this august chamber will surely agree, is also fitting for the Senate of the Republic of the Philippines.”
The vote during a recent regular session was for the Senate to be transferred to a two-hectare lot at the BGC at a cost of R1.8 billion, payable in 10 years or more.
The Upper House initially rejected an offer by the Antipolo City Government of a 25-hectare lot located at the hilly area along the Marikina-Infanta Road in Barangays San Jose and Inarawan. It was for free.
Since the Senate leased six floors of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) complex at its southwestern portion, it has already paid R2.24 billion from May 1, 1996 to Dec. 31, 2017 for rental fee.
“The cost of our lease payments have probably become enough to construct an iconic, permanent Senate building,” Lacson explained.
In implementing the transfer plan, Lacson said his committee would follow the pattern used by the Supreme Court which awarded the contract after an international bidding.
“Such structures, needless to say, live up to the words of Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei when he stated that buildings are the true ‘reflection of society’ – that you have to cast your eyes on those structures in order to feel the presence of the past and the spirit of the place,” he said.
Based on the proposed timeline, construction of the new Senate building should start in the third quarter of 2018 and be finished by the third quarter of 2020.
Lacson said expanded land routes to the new Senate site are already being undertaken by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
The proposed new Senate building to be built at the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) will look like the traditional “bahay kubo’’ but it will be iconic and world-class.
The design will be done by a winner in an international competition to be spearheaded by the Senate Accounts Committee chaired by Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson.
This came after the Senate, by a majority vote, approved a resolution directing Lacson’s committee to conduct a feasibility study on the construction of a new Senate building and relocation of the Senate.
“The new edifice will incorporate Philippine identity,” he said.
In his speech, Lacson said the US Congress, the Palace of Westminster, the Hungarian Parliament Building and the Reichstag Building in Berlin are known globally not only for their architectural design but also for representing the dignity of the parliaments they house, “something which all of us in this august chamber will surely agree, is also fitting for the Senate of the Republic of the Philippines.”
The vote during a recent regular session was for the Senate to be transferred to a two-hectare lot at the BGC at a cost of R1.8 billion, payable in 10 years or more.
The Upper House initially rejected an offer by the Antipolo City Government of a 25-hectare lot located at the hilly area along the Marikina-Infanta Road in Barangays San Jose and Inarawan. It was for free.
Since the Senate leased six floors of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) complex at its southwestern portion, it has already paid R2.24 billion from May 1, 1996 to Dec. 31, 2017 for rental fee.
“The cost of our lease payments have probably become enough to construct an iconic, permanent Senate building,” Lacson explained.
In implementing the transfer plan, Lacson said his committee would follow the pattern used by the Supreme Court which awarded the contract after an international bidding.
“Such structures, needless to say, live up to the words of Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei when he stated that buildings are the true ‘reflection of society’ – that you have to cast your eyes on those structures in order to feel the presence of the past and the spirit of the place,” he said.
Based on the proposed timeline, construction of the new Senate building should start in the third quarter of 2018 and be finished by the third quarter of 2020.
Lacson said expanded land routes to the new Senate site are already being undertaken by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
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