Over P100 million in taxpayer's money.
The newly-renovated House plenary hall (Facebook)
That's roughly how much the House of Representatives has spent in renovating Batasang Pambansa Complex ahead of the 19th Congress, which will begin in earnest on Monday, July 25.
That day, on that venue, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. will deliver his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) as president of the republic.
"Mga ano kasi, siguro more than a hundred million kasi sobrang luma na rin siya, marami kaming pinalitan sa lugar, sa plenary (I think it's more than a hundred million because it's very old, we made a lot of changes to the site, to the plenary)," House Secretary General Mark Llandro Mendoza told reporters Wednesday, July 20 when asked about the budget for the renovations.
Marcos will deliver his SONA in person at the rejigged plenary hall.
Reportedly, the first gallery of the plenary was been totally removed to increase the floor space. The bigger floor space will allow the venue to accommodate the tables of the House members while observing the physical distancing rule.
New tables were reportedly purchased for the 315 House members.
The renovation began at the tail end of the speakership of Marinduque lone district Rep. Lord Allan Velasco in the previous 18th Congress. Mendoza has been the head honcho in the House after the chamber's sine die adjournment last July 2.
"Actually yung sa floor plan, ibang-iba na, dati kasi flat sya, ngayon elevated na yung seating arrangement natin. Before kasi kaunti lang, nung 306 nga, sobrang siksikan na. Buti na lang pandemic, hindi pa masyadong...sobrang kaunti lang nag-aattend, hybrid that time (Actually the floor plan is very different, it used to be flat, now we have an elevated seating arrangement. Before there were only 306 House members, and it was already packed. Good thing we were in a pandemic, so it wasn't...only a few attended the sessions physically, the set-up was hybrid at that time)," Mendoza said.
"Pero ngayon kasi, we're also preparing na mag face-to-face na rin yung sessions. Ngayon, ang capacity ng plenary talaga from 315 congressmen, kaya siya (But now, we're also preparing for face-to-face session. The capacity of the plenary now is for 315 congressmen. they will fit), more than enough. We still have space, dinesign siya more than 340 to 350 ang pwedeng umupo sa session hall (the session hall was designed to accommodate 340 to 350 solons)," he added.