Vico Sotto says Pasig to build new City Hall campus

Pasig City will build a new city hall "campus" to replace the old municipal buildings that are now structurally inadequate, Mayor Vico Sotto said Sunday.

During the "Gabi ng Pasasalamat" event celebrating the city's 450th founding anniversary, Sotto said that the current city hall had started as a smaller municipal building in 1963. Over the decades, several additions were made to it and three other buildings were built very close to it to make up the current City Hall compound.  

In the first quarter of this year, he said, a report his office had requested from independent assessors showed that the compound's problems include 62 columns and 451 girders or beams that are "structurally inadequate."

"Basta ang conclusion [ng report], ang City Hall natin, ang apat na building na bumubuo ng City Hall, ay structurally unsound," Sotto said. "Kailangang umaksyon tayo."

The mayor said that they had first considered making repairs to the old buildings, but that among the more than two dozen engineers and architects they consulted, not a single one recommended retrofitting the buildings.

The result is a vision for a Pasig City Hall "campus" that will require a 10-year masterplan, Sotto said. The first to be built will be the new City Hall itself, which will take two years to construct.

"Maaaring ito po ang magiging pinakamalaking proyekto sa kasaysayan ng lungsod ng Pasig," Sotto said.

Screenshots from video presented by Mayor Vico Sotto on July 2, 2023

"Kailangan natin ng isang City Hall na hindi lang po para sa empleyado, kailangan natin ng City Hall na para sa bawat isang Pasigueño," the mayor added. "City Hall na may open spaces, na may mga lugar na pwedeng paglaruan ng mga bata para hindi na po sa kalsada maglalaro mga bata; City Hall na safe kahit na may malakas na lindol; City Hall na may evacuation center sa baba; City Hall na may senior citizens center; City Hall compound and complex na kasama ang pagpapaganda hanggang sa Mega Market natin, kasama ang mga market vendors natin. City Hall para sa kinabukasan."

Sotto had teased the announcement a day earlier. "Sinimulan natin ang pagbabalangkas ng plano hindi dahil sa kagustuhan natin, kundi dahil kailangan. Our sense of urgency is strong because the danger continues to become more imminent," he said on his social media on Saturday. — BM, GMA Integrated News