[ Manila Bulletin Online ] June 24, 2008
Chesca de la Cruz
The Public Estates Authority, now renamed Public Reclamation Authority, has turned itself around from sustained losses since 30 years ago to a "wealth generator" in the process posting record-breaking revenues of P1.4 billion plus in 2007 enabling it to pay income taxes to the Bureau of Internal Revenue of P590 million.
For this it was awarded by BIR as top paying government owned and controlled corporation after posting huge growth in 2007 relative to 2006.
This feat was realized because we "repackaged ourselves in accordance to the mandate given us by our charter as a full-blown wealth generator and not just a regulator, as the agency functioned for the last 30 years," explained Andrea Domingo, the new PRA general manager/CEO.
"We have remitted close to half a billion to the treasury (through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources) from the Alabang Stock Farm joint venture with Filinvest," she reported to President Arroyo earlier.
Concerned LGUs are reaping hundreds of millions in real property taxes as we are able to legally dispose of reclaimed lands.
She said that in 2007, PRA successfully concluded a 15-hectare swap with Nayong Pilipino Foundation and 40 hectares sold for Pagcor’s Entertainment City that "would bring us to the leaderboard of international destinations."
She said the PEA (now PRA) charter allows the company to get into franchises, construction, development and consultancy services in reclamation and technical services to all parties needing our expertise.
In fact, PRA (and its predecessor, PEA) constructed many government buildings such as Sandiganbayan, Ombudsman, the 20 BIR buildings all over the country (including the ongoing construction of BIR in Caloocan City), the Court of Tax Appeals and Land Registration Administration, among others, she said.
Domingo, whose previous job was that of Immigration Commissioner, said she is happier in PRA since "the staff is professional and results-oriented, the work is simpler (I do not have to run after so many crooks) and being self liquidating, our output dictates our take home pay."
She said she finds herself "lucky to be in the right place at the right time or being at PRA just when the economy was improving, investor confidence in reclamation projects have been recovered and people are now more ready to see changes for the better in their landscape."
"Elsewhere in the country especially in land-starved Cebu, reclamation is proving to be the viable alternative to leveling mountains and converting farmlands into concrete jungles," she said.
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