The Marcos administration is accelerating the sale of prime real estate assets to fund an urgent expansion of the national oil stockpile, as geopolitical volatility in the Middle East depletes domestic fuel buffers.

Finance Assistant Secretary Michael Peter A. Alejandro said on Wednesday, March 18, that the government is fast-tracking “pre-disposition” activities for the Atrium of Makati, the Mile Long complex, and a portion of the Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) property in Taguig.

Alejandro explained that government officials are working to clear all legal and administrative hurdles to ensure the properties are ready for privatization within the year.

“We are targeting Atrium of Makati, Mile Long, and a portion of FTI for this year,” Alejandro told Manila Bulletin. “Pre-disposition activities are currently ongoing.”

Alejandro, meanwhile, said the Privatization Council (PrC) has yet to assign prices to these assets.

Finance Secretary Frederick D. Go told reporters on Tuesday that the urgency of the finance department to dispose of these properties has heightened, noting that discussions on the possible acceleration of the disposal of the mentioned assets are ongoing.

According to the finance chief, the additional earnings from the sale of Atriumn, Mile Long, and FTI will be earmarked for procuring additional oil stock buffers amid the persistent risk of an oil supply shortage.

Go said the state-run Philippine National Oil Co. – Exploration Corp. (PNOC EC) is now securing two million barrels of oil from various suppliers in the global market. This is estimated to add 10 more days to the country’s fuel buffer, as reports indicate the existing stock has already thinned to 38 days from nearly two months prior to the military flare-up in the Middle East.

While the DOF-attached Privatization and Management Office (PMO) said these assets are eyed to be sold within 2026, Go said this could materialize as early as the second quarter of the year.

Alejandro told Manila Bulletin that further details on the privatization efforts will be disclosed once these have been finalized and approved by the council.

Data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed that the Marcos administration saw a massive contraction in privatization earnings in 2025. Total revenue on this front dropped to ₱2 billion last year from ₱3.3 billion in 2024.

It can be noted that the government’s collections from other income sources contracted sharply to ₱49 million from ₱2.7 billion in 2024, the main revenue driver in 2024.

Despite the surprising ₱778-million remittance of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) in 2025, data showed it was not enough to match or top the previous year’s total privatization collection. PCGG had zero remittance in 2024.

Recall that the original target for the privatization of idle government assets under the 2025 revenue program was ₱101 billion. It was slashed to ₱50 billion in April and further reduced to just ₱5 billion by June last year.

For 2026, the DOF is targeting to raise ₱193.7 billion from the privatization of big-ticket idle government assets, according to recent reports. In contrast, the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) documents showed a goal of only ₱101 billion.