Vice President Binay bans weddings at Coconut Palace

(the Palace features a huge chandelier made up of 101 coconut shells | photo by MangoRed)

(via Inquirer.net) Engaged couples who plan to hold their wedding reception at the bayside Coconut Palace, will have to go elsewhere.

According to a senior staff member of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), which owns the 33-year-old facility, no more private parties will be allowed at the edifice “as per instructions of the Office of the Vice President (OVP).”

The OVP, which is renting a portion of the seventh floor of the Philippine National Bank Financial Center in Pasay City, will transfer shortly to the Coconut Palace, located at the Cultural Center of the Philippines complex, behind the Folk Arts Theater.

“No dates yet, but the first quarter of the year is our target,” disclosed Joey Salgado, spokesperson and media officer of Vice President Jejomar Binay.

VP’s residence

The Coconut Palace will be the Vice President’s permanent office and official residence.

“Aside from security reasons, it is hard to imagine working there with caterers and wedding or birthday guests, among others, running around,” Salgado told the Inquirer.

Asked about the repairs reportedly being made at the facility, Salgado said, “The floor plan has not yet been finalized, but the OVP is working on it.”

Binay’s new office, which was built in 1978 on orders of then first lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos, was a “bargain,” according to Salgado.

“Our monthly rent will just be P400,000, which is half the amount we are paying now at the PNB Financial Center. And the P400,000 to be charged by GSIS is what they earn a month from the wedding and other receptions held at the Coconut Palace,” he said.

The OVP’s monthly rent at the PNB Financial Center still does not include other overhead expenses.

‘Good idea’

Considering the reduction in the OVP budget for 2011—P185.1 million from P187.3 million last year—Salgado noted that moving to the facility was a “good idea.”

Last June, President Aquino offered Binay the Coconut Palace as his official residence.

Aside from this lavish mansion built during the Marcos era, the other option was the old City Hall of Makati City, where Binay served for six terms as mayor.

Binay had thought of holding office there but the building on JP Rizal Street needed to be renovated first. He also joked that he was having trouble getting permission from the new mayor, his son and namesake, Junjun Binay.

To his staff, he complained that the Vice President, often referred to as the “spare tire” in government, did not have a permanent office and an official residence.

Binay’s lament

“A provincial governor has a governor’s mansion. The Vice President comes home to his own house,” Binay once lamented.

At the Coconut Palace, a four-hour reception normally cost P100,000, while a simple guided tour would cost P100 per head, said GSIS staff.

The facility, which stands on a 2.7-hectare property, is estimated to be worth at least P1.2 billion.

The GSIS has spent over P10 million preserving the look and feel of the original edifice, designed by architect Francisco Mañoza and made of several types of Philippine hardwood and coconut shells.

It has been used as a guest house for official guests of the Marcos government, like Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and US show biz stars Brooke Shields and George Hamilton.

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