With a yawning budget deficit to finance this year, the government is enjoining ordinary Filipinos to buy its idle assets to add to much-needed public revenues.
For April, the Department of Finance (DOF)-attached Privatization and Management Office (PMO) is eyeing to dispose of 51 lots, with a combined base price of ₱603.5 million.
The PMO is offering for sale on an “as-is, where-is” basis 17 properties worth ₱245.3 million through public auction, on top of 34 lots for negotiated sale, with a total value of ₱358.2 million.
Chief Privatization Officer Maan Vanessa L. Doctor said the deadline to submit bids for four properties in the cities of Las Piñas and Valenzuela as well as the provinces of Laguna and Pampanga—all for public auction—is on April 1.
Meanwhile, 19 lots for negotiated sale in the provinces of Batangas, Cagayan, Cavite, Nueva Ecija, and Pampanga will accept offers until April 8.
Thirteen properties in Cagayan de Oro City and Misamis Oriental province to be sold through public auction, plus 15 in Quezon City and the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Nueva Ecija, and Quezon to be disposed through negotiated sale, will accept bids and offers, respectively, up to April 10.
The most expensive lot up for sale is a 5,000-square meter (sqm) property in Brgy. Lawang Bato, Valenzuela City, with a base price of ₱90 million.
DOF Secretary Ralph G. Recto said that the privatization of “non-performing assets is among the strategic moves to raise much-needed revenues to fund the growing needs of our people.”
In a March 13 statement, the DOF said it is strengthening efforts to increase non-tax revenues through privatization, in order to help fund the “gargantuan” or enormous national budget.
For 2025, the Marcos administration is increasing its budget deficit to ₱1.54 trillion, which would make it the widest, in terms of amount, in three years if achieved.
Last year, the government exceeded its targeted fiscal deficit of ₱1.48 trillion when it reached ₱1.51 trillion, 5.7 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Without new taxes yet huge expenditures on public goods and services, the DOF targets to raise a record ₱101 billion from privatization.
Recto said that by allowing ordinary Filipinos to take part in the acquisition of and investment in the idle properties, the government is making investment opportunities available to them.
Catherine L. Fong, DOF undersecretary for the privatization and partnerships group (PPG), also said the assets will be sold because they not only fail to generate income but also burden the government in its maintenance.
“These assets do not generate economic activity or government income (by way of taxes) while it actually costs the national government money to maintain them,” Fong said.
“We allocate budgetary support for the PMO for upkeep and pre-disposition activities, and instead of raising revenue and helping stimulate the economy, these assets are a burden,” Fong added.
Recto said the newly issued privatization guidelines that “aim to expedite the disposition of non-performing public assets will allow the national government to collect additional non-tax revenues while also encouraging ordinary Filipinos to acquire and invest in these assets.”
Given this, the government “sincerely hopes to receive offers from ordinary citizens wishing to own their own land.” This would help the government “create better value by speedily disposing of these assets.”
The Privatization Council (PrC), the interagency body chaired by Recto, oversees the government’s privatization efforts, while the PMO manages the sale of assets from financial institutions and select government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs).
According to DOF, the PrC unanimously approves the sale terms and sets the minimum price for each asset, usually based on its fair market value (FMV) determined by independent appraisers.