Over P2B worth of assets held by old central bank up for privatization

AT LEAST P2 billion worth of state assets will be up for sale, including real property owned by the defunct Central Bank of the Philippines and the national government, as well as shares of stock, the Department of Finance (DoF) said.

The pool of assets is “growing. For instance [assets of ] the Central Bank Board of Liquidators (CBBOL) are coming to us. So it is increasing,” Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III told reporters last week when asked about assets to be privatized.

Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran specified the sale, saying: “With us, P2.1 billion in assets from CBBOL to [the Bureau of the] Treasury.”

Assets from CBBOL are those that were not transferred to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas after the 1993 New Central bank revamp. The assets comprise multiple seized real estate used as collateral from now-shuttered banks.

Mr. Beltran said the aim is to sell all the CBBOL assets before the Central Bank ceases to exist in June next year, as stated in the New Central Bank Act.

Still, it is not certain all the assets will be sold before that time, according to Mr. Beltran.

Finance Undersecretary Grace Karen G. Singson of the DoF’s privatization group meanwhile said that the privatization revenue target might be breached given the growing list of assets.

“We’ll do more than that probably,” she said.

The government is expecting P2 billion worth of annual revenue from the sale of its assets until 2019.

Ms. Singson said that the appraisal process through the Privatization and Management Office ( PMO) usually takes about a year before the assets go through the bidding process.

As of end-May, the Bureau of the Treasury received P243 million from the PMO.

Mr. Dominguez however said that some of the government’s assets are still currently being valued.

“Usually [ it takes] 12 months, for the appraisal. Obviously some assets are not completely listed, so we need to summarize the revenue, then we need approval,” she said.

The PMO handles all assets for disposal, as well as those of government-owned corporations, in a bid to reduce the state’s expenses on non-performing assets.

On top of the CBBOL assets, Mr. Dominguez said some properties in Batangas and Las Piñas are also up for sale.

“We have 169.15 hectares in Batangas, we have 18 hectares in Las Piñas, and we have 3.95 hectares that is owned by Pilipinas Shell Petroleum, but they are still under lease. And we even have corporations, shares of stock. We have Manila Gas Corp., we have a lot,” Mr. Dominguez said.

He said that the government will also sell shares of stock in Atlas Consolidated Mining & Development Corp., Benguet Corp., Chemical Industries of the Philippines, and the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co.

Mr. Dominguez also said stakes in Philippine Airlines Holdings, Puerto Azul, Manila Polo Club, and Makati Sports Club are up for sale.

“You know it’s a long list,” said Mr. Dominguez. The DoF did not release the entire list of assets to be privatized.

“Soon there will be some more assets in Makati that will be privatized. There are assets in Davao City that will be privatized,” he added.

Mr. Dominguez has said that the government will privatize casinos owned by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp ., to remove its regulatoroperator conflict of interest. —