[ Malaya.com.ph ] September 14, 2010
The government may add into its privatization basket two parcels of lot owned by two agencies which have remained idle over the years for possible joint development or outright sale, a top government official said.
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the real property assets are owned by Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Health (DOH).
He said the two government properties could be sold or offered for joint use or development with the private sector.
Abad said the DepEd property measures five hectares and is located near a shopping mall in Ortigas district, Mandaluyong City while the DOH property is located in Cebu, measuring around 30 hectares for a total of 35 hectares.
He said the DOH property once hosted the Cebu ’s leprosy center.
Abad said billions in proceeds could be realized from the sale of the two real property assets, which could be used to finance programs and projects next year or plug a ballooning deficit of P290 billion.
"There’s no firm decision yet (to sell) but we will recommend it for President’s approval," Abad told the Senate finance committee in a previous hearing.
The government is looking at P6 billion in proceeds from privatization next year from this year’s reduced goal of P2 billion after scrapping the original target of P30 billion.
The finance department (DOF) said the government would prioritize next year the sale of the sprawling Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) property in Taguig City for at least P10 billion.
It is, however, putting in the freezer the planned sale of its Fujimi property in Tokyo, Japan and the disposal of the Malampaya stake of the PNOC-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC).
The three state assets have been lined-up for privatization since 2009 but no serious buyers have come forward.
The government has so far generated P200 million from its privatization effort this year from its pruned target of P2 billion.
The 2010 revised privatization goal is just slightly above the P1.4 billion realized last year after coming from a high of P31.3 billion in 2008 and P90.6 billion in 2007. - Dennis Gadil
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