Rethink P9.6-B city hall project, Pasig mayor urged

A businessman questioned the plan of the Pasig City government to construct a city hall complex that would cost P9.6 billion.In his letter to Mayor Vico Sotto, St. Gerrard Charity Foundation's Curlee Discaya questioned the necessity of building such an expensive city hall complex. Discaya said the money can better be used to improve health services and fund education programs.Discaya urged Sotto to revisit the project and consider trimming its cost down to a third of the total allocation or roughly P3.2 billion for a new project design, and use the remaining P6.4 billion for public services. "The fund for what I say is the greater need of Pasigueños for health care, children's education and economic assistance will not be an obstacle to your dream of a fancy project, because even a third of the P9.6-billion is enough to finish the modern and still magnificent new city hall complex," he said.Discaya said that any experienced contractor who is well-versed in price assessment for vertical construction with horizontal development can readily explain that the P9.6 billion allocation for the planned 46,000 square meter city hall complex, which would cost P209,197 per square meter, is beyond the regular cost estimate. "Everyone who builds large buildings, whether architects or engineers, knows that the cost of construction does not exceed P70,000 per square meter even if the materials are of high quality and luxurious," he said.Expressing support to Sotto's administration, Discaya offered to provide the local government with detailed and preliminary engineering design in case the mayor would consider pursuing a new project concept with lowered cost. On June 2, 2023, Sotto unveiled during the city's 450th founding anniversary the new city hall complex project which, he said, is part of a 10-year comprehensive plan that extends beyond his three-term or nine-year limit.Sotto said that the initial plan of the city was to retrofit the old city hall building but structural experts advised him against the idea because the cost for the rehabilitation works would be "very expensive." According to the mayor, the construction of the complex, which will take more than two years, would be transparent, well-planned and "future proof."In a statement on May 21, 2024, Sotto said that while the city government has approved a P9.6-billion budget for the construction of the new city hall facility, "the said amount is not the final project cost because the contract price might be reduced during the bidding." The Manila Times tried but failed to get a reaction from Mayor Sotto.