PASIG City Mayor Vico Sotto announced the start of construction of the new Pasig City Hall, a P9-billion project that aims to modernize the city’s main government complex. “Now is the best time to start construction for The New Pasig City Hall. We will prove to Pasigueños that our reforms are working,” Sotto said in a Facebook post, noting Pasig is committed to implement projects that are “well-planned, high-quality, and free of kickbacks and corruption.” The new city hall will cover a construction floor area of 72,405 square meters and will include government offices, health service facilities, a wide public plaza, and other civic spaces. The P9-billion contract covers demolition, site development, IT infrastructure, and interior works, among other components. “But we said, if we’re going to carry out this project, let’s do it properly and make it beautiful. It should be long-lasting and of high quality. We have to make sure that the new city hall is good for the next 100 years — that is the vision,” Sotto said. He emphasized that the project is more than just a new building, but also a reflection of the city government’s reforms. Sotto said the building aims to reflect Pasig’s identity. “Our project has cleared the compound’s middle corridor, which brings back the view to the Mutya ng Pasig Revolving Tower,” he said, noting that the corridor will be transformed into a new plaza connecting the old quadrangle to the Tanghalan. Sotto led the groundbreaking and capsule-laying ceremony together with Vice Mayor Dodot Jaworski, Rep. Roman Romulo, Pasig City Hall Consortium (PCHCC) chairman Isaac David, PCHCC president Nicholas David, and architect Royal Pineda.