Makati City Hall Parking Complex vs. Metro Manila's prime residential towers

 

The controversy surrounding the P2.5-billion, 11-storey Makati City Hall Parking Complex has become a hot potato, involving kickback allegations hurled at no less than an avowed candidate in the 2016 national elections.

 

Last July, lawyer and defeated mayoralty candidate Renato Bondal filed plunder charges against Vice President Jejomar Binay and his son Makati City Mayor Erwin Jejomar "Jujun" Binay Jr. for the overpriced parking building – supposedly by P1.314 billion.

 

The building was constructed in 2007 when the elder Binay was Makati mayor and Junjun a city councilor.

 

In defense, Junjun Binay said there was no anomaly in the construction of the "world-class" building. The contract prices were reasonable, based on a review conducted by a technical audit specialist in early 2014.

 

He said the project was done in five phases – a practice common in Makati.

 

While the Commission on Audit did not give a clearance for the project, chair Grace Pulido-Tan said there might be a problem in finding out if the building is overpriced because it is considered a phase-to-phase project.

 

Former Makati City Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado, who used to be a longtime ally of the Binays, also said Vice President Binay might have gained from the "overpriced" Makati City Hall parking complex. Mercado admitted he himself received kickbacks from the project.

 

Vice President Binay said he and Mercado, his former vice mayor, had a falling out when the latter was not given the Makati mayoralty post in the 2013 mid-term elections.

 

In a press conference Wednesday, Vice President Binay said the accusations against him and his son were politically motivated by those who want to have an impact against his performance in surveys among presidential candidates. 

 

The Makati City Hall Parking Complex has a total floor area of 31,928 square meters, five parking floors, five office floors and a basement. – With Analyn Perez and Danessa O. Rivera/VS, GMA News