BCDA remits in guarantee fees, and dividends to BTr B

The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) remitted record guarantee fees and dividends to the Bureau of Treasury last year that will fund the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) modernization program.

In a statement, the Department of Finance (DOF) said that BCDA remitted R5.22 billion in guarantee fees and dividends to the Bureau of the Treasury from January to December last year, the highest amount generated by the agency to date.

Of the amount, R4.839 billion — representing the revenues generated from assets disposed by the BCDA from January to date — will go to the AFP modernization and other beneficiary agencies under its charter, the DOF said.

In a report to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, the treasury said that BCDA’s dividends amounted R130 million, while guarantee fees reached R250 million, and disposed assets totaled R4.839 billion.

The treasury data also showed BCDA remittances amounted to R3.93 billion in 2016, of which R3.39 billion was contributed to the AFP Modernization Program.

“This sum was higher than the BCDA’s 2015 remittances of R3.201 billion, of which R1.5 billion went to the AFP Modernization Program,” DOF said.

The BCDA’s remittances in 2014 slightly dipped to R2.207 billion, of which R1.588 billion was for military modernization. In 2013, the BCDA generated R2.389 billion and contributed R1.692 billion to the AFP Modernization Program.

For 2012, which was prior to the enactment into law of Republic Act No. 10349, or the Revised AFP Modernization Act, BCDA’s remittances reached R348 million, of which R245 million went to the military’s modernization efforts.

In a report posted on its website, the BCDA said that under "Republic Act No. 10349, or the Revised AFP Modernization Act of 2012," the agency has the authority "as the corporate arm of the AFP and the Department of National Defense (DND), in the disposition and development of camps not covered by RA 7227 (the BCDA charter).”

RA 10349 also extends the AFP’s modernization program for another 15 years, aimed to boost the country’s external defense capability, according to the BCDA website.

In its statement, the BCDA said its recent remittance of R1.2 billion was in in addition to the R3.6 billion contribution remitted earlier this year for the AFP Modernization Program, for a total of R4.8 billion to date, which “accounts for a 300 percent increase from the average contribution of R1.5 billion for the period 2006 to 2015.

The amount also increased significantly from the 2015 remittance of R2.2 billion."

"To date, the BCDA has raised a total of R36.6 billion for the AFP modernization program which is allocated for the purchase of military equipment to ensure sustained capability upgrade of the Armed Forces,” the office said.

“Of the amount, R25.2 billion accounts for the AFP share while R11.4 billion is earmarked for the replication of military facilities such as housing units, hospitals, churches, and museums, among others,” it added.