PHL privatization office eyes easier rules to meet target

THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT’S Privatization and Management Office (PMO) wants to revise the guidelines on the sale of Philippine government assets to help meet its “hefty” targets this year.

“What we’re trying to do right now is amend the Privatization Council (PrC) guidelines to make disposition easier,” Finance Undersecretary Catherine L. Fong told reporters on the sidelines of a forum on Tuesday. “We need to raise a lot of funds. The PrC has approved a lot of properties for disposition.”

She said PMO expects to boost its revenue through state asset sales this year, without providing exact figures.

PMO, the marketing arm of the government with respect to transferred assets, government corporations and other properties assigned to it by the Privatization Council, remitted P1.21 billion to the Treasury last year, exceeding its P500-million target, according to Finance data.

The council is a Cabinet-level body in charge of approving the government’s privatization plans.

“We have an estimated deficit from revenue collections, so I have a hefty target for this year,” Ms. Fong said.

She said the guidelines prevent them from selling assets at prices lower than the base price, which is set by two independent appraisers.

“In a lot of these properties, for example, there are many informal settlers. It makes sense to just sell these to the local government units (LGU),” she said. “But the LGUs are only willing to buy them at zonal values. Right now, we’re not allowed to do that.”

PMO is also looking into the possibility of working with real estate companies to help sell these properties, Ms. Fong said.

She also cited delays in asset sales due to procurement issues.

“There are so many assets,” she said. “Right now, we get bogged down by the appraisal. The procurement of an appraiser takes so long.”

Once the assets are appraised and they set the base price for auction, some of these turn out to be much cheaper than market prices, she added.

“Sometimes, it’s higher than actual. We don’t have flexibility. A lot of the assets that have been auctioned [had a] failed bidding, so we want to minimize that. That’s what we’re trying to solve,” Ms. Fong said.

PMO expects to finish the new privatization guidelines this month, she said.

PMO is also working with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) on its plan to privatize its gaming operations, the Finance official said.

“We’re looking to touch base again with [PAGCOR] as soon as possible to see if we can already sell those this year because we need the [funds],” she added.

Ms. Fong said the timetable for divesting PAGCOR of its assets by 2025 is still on track.

Last year, the gaming regulator announced a plan to become purely a regulator and let go of its operator role. The Finance department has been calling on PAGCOR to commit to being a regulator and “settle conflicting roles.”

PAGCOR Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Alejandro H. Tengco earlier said they expect as much as P80 billion from the sale of their gaming operations. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson