Senator Maria Lourdes Nancy Binay said the Senate is bound to spend around P400-million more in rent if construction of their new building is delayed even further.

Binay pointed this out on Saturday, June 15 as she dared Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, who now heads the Senate Committee on Accounts, to discuss the issues surrounding the New Senate Building.

“Hindi ako natatakot sa issue na irregular dahil noong tayo ay nagtatrabaho para diyan sa building na iyan, talagang iyan ang binabantayan ko at ng aking staff na matayo ng tama ito (I’m not concerned about issues on irregularity because when we were working on this building, that was one of the things I and my staff guarded well because we want this to be built right),” Binay said in an interview over Radio DWIZ.

“Mas concern ko pa talaga ay yung delay sa pagtatapos ng building kasi para sa akin yun ang aksaya dahil kung papatagalin pa natin ang paglipat ng senado sa bagong building ibig sabihin nyan magbabayad nanaman kami ng 400 million na renta sa GSIS among others (My greatest concern is the delay in the construction of the building because for me it would be more of a waste if we delay the transfer to the new Senate building because that would mean we have to pay P400-millin in rent to GSIS, among others),” she said.

Currently, the Senate is occupying a portion of the GSIS building along Diokno Boulevard in Pasay City.

“Di ba ilang linggo nasira ang aircon sa building so parang for me waste of money na bibili tayo ng equipment sa GSIS when hindi ba dapat mas pinaghahandaan na natin at ang pondo ay binubuhos natin sa bagong building (The aircon in the building broke down repeatedly so for me, it’s a waste of money if we would have to buy equipment from GSIS, when it would have been better to use the funds to finish the new building),” she pointed out.

Binay also said she is keen on holding a public meeting with Cayetano to discuss the issue on the NSB.

“Since we are on a break, next week I will free up my schedule. I’m inviting Senator Alan, or if Senate President Chiz (Francis Escudero) is available, it would be good if we sit down to discuss about it,” she said.

She also said she will invite Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson to the meeting so she and the former lawmaker can brief the two senators about the new Senate building.

Binay earlier bewailed that Escudero and Cayetano have been implying there were irregularities in the construction of the project after Escudero sought a review of the construction cost of the NSB.

Escudero said he found the cost of the building “too expensive” after its initial budget of P8.9-billion rose to P23.3-billion.