Contractor for Makati City Hall Building II denies giving VP Binay kickbacks

The general contractor for the allegedly overpriced Makati City Hall Building II clarified Thursday that the company did not give then Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay or any other city officials kickbacks.

 

“Wala po (kaming ibinigay) hindi tinotolerate ng kumpanya. Wala hong (ibinigay kay Binay),” laywer Rogelio Peig, assistant vice president for legal of Hilmarc’s Construction Corporation, said during the hearing of the Blue Ribbon committee on the matter.

 

He added that their contracts went through competitive bidding.

 

Earlier in the hearing, former city General Services Department head Mario Hechanova claimed that they rigged the bidding for the project and that Binay and Hilmarc’s were aware of it.

 

'Not world class'

 

Peig also said that Hilmarc's did not claim that the building was world-class nor certified green.

 

“The contractor did not make any claim that it was world class but we are also not saying that it was not world class,” Peig said.

 

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano said it was Vice President Jejomar Binay, Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr and their camp that made the claim that the building was world class.

 

When asked if the building was certified green, Peig also replied in the negative.

 

“It is not a certified green building because it did not go through the process of certification but it has some features of a green building,” he said.

 

Quantity surveyor Greg Jackson said the certification for a green, or environmentally responsible, building begins in the planning stages of a project.

 

“It starts with the design of the building and then the construction,” he said.

 

Cayetano then asked Peig: “If it is not world class, why is it expensive?” The lawyer did not answer.

 

Dr. Ricardo Sigwa, head of the Institute of Civil Engineering of the University of the Philippines College of Engineering, also did not find the building world class.

 

“Nandun ako nung Monday (on-site inspection), ito po ay isang magandang building pero hindi ko po masasabing world-class building,” he said, adding that he still needs to see the specifications of the materials used for the building.

Different procurement process

 

In his presentation before the committee, Peig said the price of contracts with government is higher than private institutions because of the difference in the procurement process.

 

He said in government projects, the price is all-in or the contractor is in charge of the whole process of construction while in the private sector, the owner usually supplies the materials to the contractor.

 

“Sa government, in general all-in ang bid and represents 100 percent of the total project cost. Sa private, the contract amount represents only 35 to 45 percent of the total project cost because owners supplied materials which eliminates profit, taxes and overhead taxes of the general contractor,” he said.

 

He added that in the private sector, the plan can still change while in government, what is in the plan should be followed strictly. — JDS, GMA News