State asset-sales bring in a quarter of 2010 target

The government has raised a little more than a quarter of its revenue target from the sale of assets this year. According to Department of Finance (DOF) Undersecretary John Philip Sevilla, the agency already raised P500 million to P600 million from the disposal of “small” properties.

“We expect to meet the P2 billion that we are targeting to raise from privatization this year . . . We are confident we could sell the other items before the end of the year,” he said.

Early this year, the Development and Budget Coordinating Committee (DBCC) brought down the privatization goal from P30 billion to P2 billion as it excluded the sale of the government’s 10-percent stake in the Malampaya natural gas field. The government was supposed to raise P16 billion from the disposal of the state-led Philippine National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp.’s cash cow.

According to the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department, the DBCC assumed that long-standing plans to privatize state assets would generate P6 billion. Those that are scheduled for sale are the properties of Food Terminal Inc. for P5 billion; NG Makati Property, P600 million; Semirara Coal Corp., P106.4 million; Elorde Sports and Tourism Development Corp., P96.8 million; Pioneer Glass Corp., P82 million; and other assets, P40 million. –LIKHA CUEVAS-MIEL ASSISTANT BUSINESS EDITOR, Manila Times