5 hours Ago By BusinessMirror
THE Privatization and Management Office (PMO), an attached agency of the Department of Finance (DOF), is set to publish the approved guidelines allowing anybody to make unsolicited offers to dispose of over 28,000 state-owned assets. In a recent news briefing with reporters, Finance Undersecretary for Privatization and Corporate Affairs Catherine L. Fong said the “Guidelines on the Privatization and Disposition of Government Assets” have been approved and will be published in the Official Gazette next month.
The guidelines include provisions that allow the submission of unsolicited proposals, negotiated sales, direct purchases by present occupants of the residential properties and accreditation of real estate brokers to assist in the sale of the properties. According to Fong, there are over 28,000 titles in the PMO database, mostly small assets measuring about 200 square meters, which are not for the government to market anymore having no marketing arm to do so. These, the DOF official said, would be made available “for ordinary Filipinos, for overseas Filipino workers” to buy.
“Basically a lot of these assets are in the province. We are looking into Filipinos buying their own home or properties,” Fong added. If the government properties already have informal settlers, it would be harder for the government to dispose so if they would like to acquire the land, Fong said they can make an offer to PMO.
“The idea is to just post the database online and anybody can bid. Just write a letter with the offer,” Fong said. However, offers will be published so prospective proponents can challenge the unsolicited proposals, an approach applied to public-private partnership (PPP) projects.
“This is an innovation because, for the first time, we’re allowing unsolicited proposals,” Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto said. The PMO more than doubled its revenue collections in 2024, raising P4.
440 billion from P1.941 billion in 2023, from its disposition efforts. This year, the government aims to generate P101 billion from privatization, twice its P42.
1 billion target last year. After the PPP Code was passed, more PPP projects have been in the pipeline. The PMO said an estimated P23.
94 billion in private capital is set to be mobilized this year through PPP projects. Last year, the government sold its shares in the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Corporation, generating P2.9 billion.
It also received P30 billion in upfront payment from SMC-SAP & Company Consortium upon signing the concession agreement for the rehabilitation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport..
