New Senate bldg almost finished, gets top rating

THE new Senate building (NSB) in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, obtained high certification from the Berde Green building rating by the Philippine Building Council (PBC) and is ready for occupancy in January 2025.

PBC is a national nonstock, nonprofit organization that promotes the sharing of knowledge on green practices to the property industry.

Senate Majority Leader Emmanuel Joel Villanueva said the Senate was able to ensure that its new building was on track with its aim of creating something meaningful of value and a structure that houses the people's aspirations and points away from the challenges of a changed environment.

«During its inception stage, we sought to build a green building that addressed the need for infrastructure that has minimal impact on our already burgeoning environment,» Villanueva said.

He said the Senate was targeting a five-star rating in the next evaluation.

Meanwhile, Sen. Maria Lourdes Nancy Binay, chairman of the Senate Committee on Accounts, said that it was a consensus among senators that they move into the NSB in January 2025 instead of the earlier schedule in July this year.

Binay said that due to the unfinished construction of NSB in Taguig City, senators could not possibly move into their new home in July this year in time for the third State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

During the topping-off rite for the new Senate building, Senate President Juan Miguel «Migz» Zubiri said that Senate sessions would be held at the NSB before they join their colleagues at the House of Representatives at the Batasan Complex in Quezon City to hear the 3rd SONA of President Marcos in July this year.

Currently, the Senate meets at the GSIS Building along Jose W. Diokno Boulevard in Pasay City, built on land reclaimed from Manila Bay. Senators share the complex with the Government Service Insurance System.

Until May 1997, the Old Legislative Building in Manila hosted the Senate headquarters. The Senate occupied the upper floors (the Session Hall now restored to its semi-former glory), while the House of Representatives occupied the lower floors (now occupied by the permanent exhibit of Juan Luna's