MAGNANAKAW SI DRILON TULAD NG MGA AQUINOS NA MAGNANAKAW!!! PANAHON PA NI PRES. MARCOS AY MAGKASABWAT AT MAGKA-BAGANG NA SINA DRILON AT BINAY!!! PAREHO SILANG TUTA NI CORY!!! --House launches probe on Drilon pet project The House is seeking an investigation into the P700-million Iloilo Convention Center (ICC) which is Senate President Franklin Drilon’s pet project as an offshoot of the Senate probe on the allegedly overpriced Makati City Parking Lot building. Both projects were undertaken by government contractor Hilmarc’s Cons-truction Corp. (HCC). The HCC which is also under investigation by the Senate panel for alleged overprice in the Makati contract has found itself in hot water with the House likely looking into all deals it entered with the government. A House member said Drilon’s project is more expensive than the world-famous Bird’s Nest Stadium where the 2008 Summer Olympics was held. Kabataan Rep. Terry Ridon told reports said the ICC was only one of several allegedly overpriced government infrastructure projects of HCC. Ridon said he has officially sought a congressional investigation on contracts HCC had with the government through the filing of House Resolution 1466. HR 1466 calls on the House committee on public works and highways to “conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the possible cases of corruption and overpricing involving government infrastructure projects contracted with Hilmarc’s Construction Corp. (HCC) by local and national government officials to determine and exact accountability.” HCC is the contractor in the controversial Makati parking building, which is now being investigated by a sub-panel of the Senate blue ribbon committee. Ridon’s demand for a probe on all government contracts entered into by HCC was shared by United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) secretary general, Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco, saying that if House counterparts in the Senate are sincere in their quest for the truth regarding their probe on the alleged overpricing of the Makati City Hall 2 Building, then it should include all other government contracts entered into by Hillmarc’s, including the Iloilo project funded mainly through Drilon’s pork and the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP). In HR 1466, Ridon revealed several allegedly overpriced government infrastructure projects involving HCC. “In the past decade, HCC was able to clinch no less than 20 government infrastructure projects. In some cities, including Iloilo and Makati, HCC was able to clinch two or more government infrastructure projects in consecutive years. Several government projects entered into by HCC have been the center of local and national controversies involving issues of corruption and overpricing,” Ridon said in HR 1466. Ridon noted that the HCC was also involved with the botched P550-million call center project of the Commission on Higher Education in 2007, and several other government infrastructure in Makati and other local government units. “Probably the biggest overpriced project involving HCC to date is the P700-million Iloilo Convention Center (ICC), which is said to be a pet project of Senate President Franklin Drilon,” the lawmaker said. Drilon allocated P200 million of his 2013 Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) for the construction of the ICC. Other sources of funds for the ICC include the P200-million from the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority and another P200 million from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). The project started in 2012 and its construction is being stepped up for it to be finished in time for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec ) meeting in 2015. Iloilo was said to have been preselected by the organizing committee of Apec to host two of the 20 meetings that will be held in the country in 2015. On July 8, 2014, Drilon announced that another P100 million had been infused to the ICC project through the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP). The contract for Phase I of the ICC was awarded to HCC on the Dec. 2, 2013 with an offer of P479 million for the project which involves the construction of the facade and skeletal structure of the convention center. With a total price tag of P700 million for a 6,400-square meter infrastructure project, the construction cost per square meter of the ICC stands at a P109,375.00 per square meter valuation. “This is a staggering amount, considering that according to the estimates of the 2014 Davis Langdon & Seah Handbook on Construction Costs, a 5-star luxury hotel only costs P63,350 to P77,800 per square meter, including amenities,” Ridon noted in HR 1466. “This means that the cost of building every square meter of the ICC is almost equivalent to the cost of building 15 square meters of the China Convention Center,” Ridon said, in comparing the China cost to Drilon’s ICC. “Even more confounding is the fact that the construction cost per square meter of the ICC even upstages the world-renowned Beijing National Stadium, more popularly known as the Bird’s Nest – the centerpiece of the 2008 Beijing Olympics,” the lawmaker continued. Finished in 2008, the gross floor area of the Bird’s Nest is 254.6 thousand square meters, and total construction is $423 million or P18.8 billion (in 2008 conversion rates). This translates to a P73,892 per square meter construction cost. In current prices, the total construction cost of the Bird’s Nest is $463 million or P20.17 billion, bringing the inflation-adjusted per square meter cost of the famous stadium at only P79,216. “This means that the per square meter cost of the ICC is P30,149 more expensive than that of the Bird’s Nest,” Ridon said. The lawmaker noted that even at the local level, the ICC cost per square meter is still too high. In fact, the ICC is four times the actual cost per square meter of the four-level SMX Convention Center located in SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City. The 46,647- square meter project was constructed with a P900-million budget. Adjusted to current prices, the P26,400 construction cost per square meter of the SMX Convention Center still is only a quarter of the P109,375 cost per square meter of the ICC. “If we match the cost of the ICC to the per square meter cost of the Bird’s Nest, the budget for the Iloilo project will appear overpriced by P191 million. Worse, if the ICC was built with the same cost per square meter of the SMX Convention Center, it will appear that it is overpriced by P531 million,” Ridon said. “Reviewing Hilmarc’s dealings with the government is akin to opening the proverbial can of worms. Even just a cursory look will reveal several controversies at the national and local level,” Ridon said. Apart from the ICC, HCC was also the contractor in several other controversial government infrastructure, including: (a) The P500-million Iloilo Capitol Building in early 2000. In a news report dated 2005, then Iloilo Vice Gov. Roberto Armada called for the probe of the infrastructure after finding structural defects such as hairline cracks on the façade of the building. This was no more than two years after construction of the project was concluded; (b) The P200 million contract for the construction of the Abra Provincial Hospital in 2010 – The 170-bed capacity building stood on a total floor area of 5,498 square meters. The completion of the project went past the deadline after the crib wall of the stonemasonry collapsed and structural defects became evident after a storm hit the province in 2011; and, (c) The controversial New Government Center (NGC) of Bacolod, constructed in 2010 – According to the Commission on Audit, HCC failed to deliver the road construction works clearly included in the Terms of Reference of the contract for the NGC. Under the ToR, the perimeter road work is part of the architectural and engineering design item of the contract. CoA further questioned City Mayor Evelio Leonardia and the Sangguniang Panglungsod (SP) for approving a P25-million appropriation for the said perimeter road works, in their full knowledge that this item is part of the Hilmarc’s contract. CoA also demanded an explanation from the City Engineer’s office, for allowing HCC to turn over the project with incomplete deliverables
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 10:00:09 +0000
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