Most employees and officers of the Senate of the Philippines answered “yes” to Senate Secretary Lutgardo B. Barbo on the question of transferring the upper chamber’s offices from Pasay City to Antipolo City in a recent forum, officials of the city in Rizal province said.
Antipolo City Mayor Jun Ynares personally attended the forum to present the proposed site of the Senate building in Antipolo.
Ynares offered the 25 hectares of land owned by Antipolo as the new home for the Senate. If the offered lot were chosen by the lawmakers, the Senate will save P 4.148 billion in rent and other fees, the mayor said.
By building its own office, the Senate does not need to pay the annual rent worth P110 million for its current quarters at the GSIS building in Pasay City, nor does it need to buy a 14-hectare lot that costs P1.44 billion from Bases Conversion Development Authority at the Navy Village in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, Ynares said.
“Due to the free and vast land, the building construction is cheaper,” the mayor said. “The Senate and Congress can freely build needed facilities like housing, parks, sports center, convention center, and will save up to P2.7 billion.”
The lot offered to the Senate is at the geographical center of Antipolo, which is “safe from calamities” and not a threat from dangerous flood and earthquake, unlike in the Taguig which is near the West Valley Fault System, Ynares said.
The proposed site is accessible not just with the city’s “anti-traffic” program but also with the pending huge infrastructure projects like the LRT 2 Line Extension up to Cogeo in Marikina City, the C6 road from Bicutan to Batasan, and the Land Rizal Eastlake Development (RED) Project.
Interaction between government employees would also be easier due to Antipolo’s geographic location, which is nearer to Quezon City than Pasay. QC hosts the Batasang Pambansa home of Congress and different agencies of the national government.
Government employees will also save money because of the low cost of living in Antipolo, compared to Taguig’s expensive water and apartment rental fees, Ynares added.
