PCGG did not sell any ill-gotten property in 2017 – COA

MANILA, Philippines – The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) failed to sell any of the 9 real estate properties which were part of the recovered ill-gotten wealth of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos and his cronies.

The PCGG was set to sell these properties for a total amount of P336.014 million. This amount was supposed to beef up the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) as provided under Republic Act No. 6657.

“The audit team noted that during the year there was no public bidding conducted to privatize the assets enumerated. It was also further noted that the management also failed to dispose properties from previous years,” the Commission on Audit (COA) said in its 2017 audit report of the PCGG.

The COA noted that the last time the PCGG made a sale was in 2014 when 3 properties were sold to private buyers.

In the audit report, PCGG acting chairman Reynold Munsayac said they were “hesitant to privatize the assets due to issuances of Notices of Charge” by the COA against the past management.

The COA issues “notices of charge” when transactions are assessed to have low tax, customs duties, or valuation.

Munsayac said that the floor prices of the previously sold properties were set by the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Privatization Council, although the COA pegged it to a higher value.

The PCGG said it will coordinate with COA to reappraise the value of the 9 properties in line for sale, before proceeding to auction.

Among the properties for disposal are:

• 26,812-hectare Bredco property in Bacolod City surrendered by Antonio Martel and Simplicio Palanca
• 6.4-hectare property in General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite surrendered by Jose Y. Campos
• 5,952-square-meter lot in Naga City recovered from Roberto Benedicto’s Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation
• 2,335-square-meter lot in Francisco Evergreen Subdivision in Tagaytay City
• 1,000-square-meter Puerto Galera property in Oriental Mindoro recovered from Jolly Bugarin
• 300-square-meter lot in Calapan, Oriental Mindoro recovered from Jolly Bugarin
• 480-square-meter lot Kingswood Property in Emerald Court Subd., Caloocan City surrendered by former Marcos aide Alejo Ganut Jr.
• Two 300-square-meter lots in Pangarap Village, Caloocan City surrendered by Alejo Ganut Jr

Remittance

The PCGG was still able to turn over  P377.662 million in remittances to the Bureau of Treasury in 2017.

The amount is the sum of money from forfeiture cases the government has won against the Marcos family and their cronies.

For example, P251.985 million came from the remaining Marcos Swiss deposits which were forfeited in 2003, and is now under the custody of the Philippine National Bank.

Dividends from San Miguel Corporation contributed P116.073 million to the amount. – Rappler.com