MANILA, Philippines - Seven of the
country’s biggest business groups are vying for the government’s Food Terminal
Inc. (FTI) property, which is up for bidding next month for a minimum price of
P10.2 billion, the Department of Finance said yesterday.
The potential bidders are the
Gokongwei group’s Robinson’s Land Corp., Andrew Tan’s Empire East Land, the
Ayala group’s Ayala Land Inc., the Lopezes’ Rockwell Land Corp., the Sy
family’s SM Land Inc., Andrew Gotianun’s Filinvest Land Inc. and Century
Properties Group Inc., owned by the family of Jose Antonio.
The seven property firms obtained the
necessary documents and are expected to participate in the public bidding set
on Aug. 8 for 74 hectares of the 103-hectare FTI Complex.
The government tried but failed to bid
out the FTI property in the past, with the Macapagal-Arroyo administration even
lowering the floor price to P7 to P8 billion. One valuation pegged the value of
the property at P12 billion.
The last attempt to auction FTI was in
2009 when private companies snubbed a public bidding for the property.
In an interview, Finance Secretary
Cesar Purisima said the P10.2-billion floor price, though lower than the
P12-billion valuation, is based on the current market price.
“There is no plan to drop the valuation.
We believe in markets,” Purisima said.
The remaining 29 hectares of the
complex will be used for other various purposes including a five-hectare
integrated bus terminal, which is being constructed by the Department of
Transportation and Communication (DOTC) and the Department of Public Works and
Highways (DPWH).
PMO chief Karen Singson said that
following the failed bidding of the 103-hectare FTI complex in October 2009,
the government has designing a place to optimize the use of the property.
“PMO continues to coordinate with
other government agencies to ensure that the privatization of FTI complements
the broad array of infrastructure building and agriculture initiatives of the
government,” Singson said.
Proceeds of the sale will go to the
Department of Agrarian Reform for the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program and
to the Department of Agriculture.
The 103-hectare FTI agro-industrial
complex is one the largest industrial complexes in Metro Manila and is
currently home to more than 300 companies.
It provides industrial and commercial
lots for medium-to-long term leases, and industrial buildings with
standard-sized stalls for office, warehouse or small-scale processing
operations.
With the sale, the government expects
economic activities in Taguig City and nearby areas to flourish as employment
increases and transport linkages in the complex improves.
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