PASIG CITY, Metro Manila — Questioning the engineering design submitted by a favored contractor for the construction of the new Pasig City Hall building in Barangay San Nicolas, a local contracting engineer has revealed alleged anomalies in the project said to be billed at a stunning ₱9.6 billion.
In a statement, structural engineer Selwyn Lao, who operates a construction firm in Pasig City, asked for clarification regarding the unsolicited proposal by Malaysian firm MTD Philippines Incorporated, which conducted the study and then later became the winning bidder of the construction project.
“Here, the unsolicited proposal is already a failure. So, it turns out that this is the one that made the proposal and also won the bidding—it's over, it's an anomaly,” Lao disclosed during an interview.
He contended that no contractor could catch up with them on this project because they need six months to study before they can join the bidding.
"If they were only given 45 days, what does that mean? So, you are already favoring MTD. So, it turns out that the one making the decision, the one with the recommendation on what to do with the project, is MTD, and they are also the contractor," the engineer pointed out.
Lao also said that the Malaysian firm has no construction license in the Philippines and to top it all, it also does not have a withholding tax from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) as it has no workers.
"They can't really produce that PCAB (Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board) license. Secondly, withholding tax, when they declare that, did they submit anything to the BIR because this is a requirement? If not, they're finished, Mayor Vico Sotto is finished, he shouldn’t speak anymore,” he said.
Lao likewise questioned the preliminary and detailed engineering design, saying that ₱855 million was too high by Philippine standards.
"You know, this should only be ₱50 million, but how did it become ₱855 million? Where did they base that on?" he noted.
Given his long years of experience in the construction business, the engineer claimed that he can estimate a building in only two hours.
"In the Philippines, a 5-star hotel can be built at ₱75,000 to ₱85,000 per square meter. But why did this city hall building cost ₱220,000? Where did they get that basis?" he asked.
"One more thing, a 5-star hotel cannot be bid on without details, but where are the details here? Okay, let’s say the marble, let’s say the first-class Italian marble, you can buy that for ₱12,000 or ₱15,000 per square meter. Actually, expensive, it’s really for 5-star hotels. So, if that's the case, it should only be around ₱75,000 or ₱85,000 per square meter. What materials did they use, gold?"
Lao mentioned that even a Japanese firm conducting a detailed engineering design would only cost around US$10 million or ₱500 million.
"Why is their consultancy, their detailed engineering design, already at ₱865 million?" he queried.
"My question is, this contract is already there, this is just a suggestion, but they’re already at ₱865 million. It's because the one who gave the unsolicited proposal is MTD Philippines, Inc. Automatically, there’s an anomaly because they’re the ones who won," he also asked.
Moreover, Lao asserted that the local government should conduct their own studies, not from a foreign construction firm.
"Because where did the city mayor’s office get the price for their city hall building at ₱9.6 billion? They should have their own studies inside. What’s coming out now is that MTD, a foreign company, did the study," he spelled out to conclude.