Senator Alan Peter Cayetano has assured the public that the construction of the New Senate Building (NSB) remains on track.

The Senate, he said,  is now focused on reducing costs without compromising its design and quality.

“We are doing our best to maintain the aesthetics and quality, lower the project price, and hopefully finish it by the first quarter of 2027,” Cayetano said in a recent interview.

The chair of the Senate Committee on Accounts said the Senate's priority is to ensure that the project cost aligns with the previous design and the intended outcome with today’s market rates.

“There are no delays as everything is going smoothly. Ang basic task is to lower the price,” he said.

Construction of the NSB earlier faced congressional scrutiny due to its ballooning budget, with some senators noting that while the core and shell of the building is priced at P8.9 billion in 2018, the projected overall project cost has now surged to P33.07 billion.

According to Cayetano, such cost increases could have been avoided with better planning and oversight.

Nevertheless, the committee’s primary focus was ensuring the completion and address the delays.

“We didn’t go into this asking, ‘Is there an anomaly or not?’ What we looked at was why there was a delay, what remedies were available, and how to prevent further delays,” he said.

The New Senate Building is expected to be completed by 2027.