Report on ‘overpriced’ Makati Building now complete —COA official

The special audit team on the Makati City Hall Building II has completed its report  on the overpricing and graft that allegedly attended its construction, an official of the Commission on Audit told reporters on Tuesday.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity for lack of authority to discuss the matter, the COA official said the audit team has submitted its full report on the alleged anomaly to the office of COA chairperson Michael Aguinaldo on March 2.

“Noong March 2 naibigay sa office ni chairman. Nire-review nalang ni chairman,” the COA official said.

The official admitted that the audit team experienced some delays in completing the report after the team leader was hospitalized on several occasions.

“Ang nangyari kasi dyan yung audit team leader palagi siyang na-hospitalized, on and off yung sakit niya,” the source said.

In a press statement issued on Sunday, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales alleged that Vice President Jejomar Binay Sr. appealed to a certain COA official not to release the report on the Makati Parking Building until after the May 9 elections.

Binay is running for president in the upcoming elections.

The alleged overpriced construction of the Makati parking building began in 2007 during the term of the elder Binay as mayor of the city. The project was continued by his son Erwin “Junjun” Binay Jr. who succeeded him as Makati mayor in 2010.

The COA official refused to comment on Morales’ allegation but assured that the audit investigation has complied with the “internationally accepted audit standards."

The source added that once Aguinaldo approved the report, the Ombudsman, the Sandiganbayan and Makati City government will be furnished with copies.

Junjun Binay is already facing graft and falsification of public documents cases before the Sandiganbayan in connection with the parking building anomaly.

The source said already included in the audit team’s report were the respectively reply of the respondents to the audit findings as well as the team’s rejoinder to the respondents’ reply.

The source, however, maintained that their office will not release the copy of the report to the media so as not to affect the pending cases before the Sandiganbayan and the Ombudsman’s investigation.

“E may mga pangalan dyan [sa report], parang mangyayari baka ma-prejudge ng public…To be fair lang to the parties concerned,” the source said. -NB, GMA News