Gov’t fast-tracks disposition of assets

The Department of Finance (DOF) has set in motion the process of disposing the assets of two state corporate bodies — the Partido Development Administration (PDA) and the Technology Resource Center (TRC) — to speed up their liquidation, in line with the Duterte administration’s goal of ridding Government of its non-performing assets (NPAs).

DOF’s Privatization Management Office (PMO) is designated as the disposition entity to clear the way for the liquidation of both the PDA and TRC.

The Governance Commission for Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) recommended the abolition of the PDA in 2017 while the TRC had been ordered abolished by the Office of the President in 2014 for its involvement in the irregularities related to the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

In Memorandum Order No. 29 signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea last Sept. 25, Malacañang pointed out that “the PDA and its various operating units have been consistently operating at a loss for several years, which necessitates continuous subsidy from the National Government.”

The PDA was created in 1994 with the goal of accelerating the development of 10 municipalities comprising the fourth legislation district of Camarines Sur that is better known as the Partido district.

The Governance Commission for Government-Owned or -Controlled Corporations (GCG) recommended the abolition of the PDA for the following reasons: (1) the PDA performs functions or purposes that duplicate or unnecessarily overlap with functions, programs, activities or projects already provided by a government agency; and (2) the PDA is not producing the desired outcomes, or no longer achieving the objectives and purposes for which it was originally designed and implemented, and/or not cost efficient and does not generate the level of social, physical and economic returns vis-a-vis the resource inputs.

In a memorandum issued in 2015, the GCG said the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) shall implement “the winding down of operations, disposition of the assets and settlement of liabilities of the TRC.” /