COA asks industry experts to help in special audit of Makati building; Nancy slams Senate probe

Experts in the construction industry are being contacted by the Commission on Audit (COA) to assist its audit examiners in conducting a special audit of the parking building constructed in 2007 by the Makati City government.

Interviewed in a television morning show yesterday, COA Chairperson Grace Pulido Tan disclose that her office has already contacted experts to help the audit agency determine whether or not the city government paid more than what the 11-storey Makati City building actually costs.

The alleged overpricing of the construction of the building is now the subject of a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee probe. A plunder case has also been filed against Vice President Jejomar Binay and his son, incumbent Mayor Junjun Binay, on the same issue.

Although the disbursements have already passed regular audit, Pulido-Tan said COA has decided to take a second look through a special audit after accusers of the former and incumbent Makati mayors claimed that the city government paid for more than double the real cost of the building at P2.3 billion.

Pulido-Tan said a special audit is conducted if there are suspicions of irregularities due to observations that normal and logical processes in pursuing them have not been followed. She said the holding of the bidding for the construction contract was also suspiciously fast and completed in just two months. Had the Makati City government followed the provisions of the procurement law, she said, it would have taken local officials at least 130 days to conduct the bidding and award the contract.

NANCY SLAMS SENATE PROBE

Meanwhile, Sen. Ma. Lourdes Nancy Binay said the ongoing investigation of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on the Makati City Hall Building II isnt a search for truth, but a search for free publicity.

This is about media mileage for people who have intentions for 2016, Binay said in an interview after the committee hearing last Thursday.

Even after being dragged into the controversy, Binay said she is not inclined to appear at the hearing to defend herself and her family from the accusations hurled by their staunchest critics, namely Senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano.

During the resumption of the Senate probe, a former Makati government official handling the citys Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) said that bidding for the edifice and other city projects were rigged to favor Hilmarcs Construction Corp. Mario Hechanova, who also headed Makati City Halls General Services Department, told the Senate investigators that this was upon the instructions given by the Vice President who was then the city mayor.

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COA asks industry experts to help in special audit of Makati building; Nancy slams Senate probe