Lower Pasig City Hall construction cost vowed

Pasig City mayoral candidate Sarah Discaya, if elected in the 2025 midterm polls, plans to spend P8.7 billion on a range of infrastructure projects, including a new city hall, hospitals, schools and housing.

Curlee Discaya — a contractor and owner of a quadruple-A construction firm — contrasted his wife’s proposal with the current city administration’s plan to spend P9.6 billion solely on a new city hall building.

During a press conference, he detailed the proposed projects: a new city hall for P2.7 billion, an 11-story hospital for P500 million, five 11-story housing buildings for P2 billion, an 11-story university building for P500 million, five seven-story high school buildings for P500 million, five four-story elementary school buildings for P500 million, two new bridges for P300 million, 10 three-kilometer roads and 10 three-kilometer drainage and flood control projects in Barangay Pinagbuhatan for P100 million each, and 30 multi-level multi-purpose halls and covered courts for P1.5 billion.

Discaya stated that these projects would be constructed simultaneously and completed within three years as he also criticized the current city hall project, claiming its cost of P210,000 per square meter is comparable to Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, while their proposed city hall would cost P70,000 per square meter.

He assured that his construction firm would not participate in the bidding or construction of the P8.7 billion projects, citing Republic Act 9184, which prohibits relatives up to the third degree of consanguinity of elected officials from participating in such undertakings.

Discaya also suggested that the current city hall’s cost could potentially rise to P31 billion but stressed that he was not accusing anyone of corruption but offered to present the cost estimates for their proposed projects.

He added that the remaining P800 million would be used to implement a zero-billing policy on the first day of Sarah Discaya’s administration.

Meantime, Selwyn Lao, a structural engineer and owner of a construction firm based in Pasig, earlier said the new city hall building is “too expensive” and insisted that the city government should have implemented a proper Swiss Challenge to allow other firms to propose more competitive bids for the same project.

Lao has repeatedly criticized the process, which started with an unsolicited proposal from MTD Philippines Inc., a Malaysian firm that both proposed the project and eventually won the contract.

He stressed that other contractors would have needed at least six months to study the proposal and prepare a competitive bid. However, the bidding window was reportedly only 45 days.

Lao also raised legal and financial red flags, claiming that MTD Philippines does not possess a Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board license and has no record of withholding tax payments with the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

He also slammed the P855 million cost for the preliminary and detailed engineering design, saying that by Philippine standards, it should only cost around P50 million.

Lao argued that the local government should have commissioned its own feasibility studies instead of relying on a foreign firm.

Previously, Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto stated that the cost computations per square meter were “inaccurate and misleading” as he also explained that under the design-and-build procurement modality, detailed cost estimates are still being finalized before contract signing.

Sought for comment, Sotto said the contract has been readily available on the Pasig website.

“Parts of the engineering consultant’s report have been presented in reports to the public; it can also be requested via FOI request, rather than yet another press release,” the mayor said in a statement sent to DAILY TRIBUNE via Viber and through the city public information office.

Sotto added that the said project is not only one building, but a two-hectare redevelopment project that includes three towers, a large plaza, a medical facility and interior roads.

“While structural issues and public safety are the top concerns, we must also now maximize the city hall compound’s land value,” he said.

“If Mr. Lao is sincere in his queries, I would be more than willing to tour him on-site, so that he may understand both the scope and value of this project,” the mayor added.