Napocor seeks Palace nod for sale of lots

The National Power Corp. (Napocor) is urging Malacañang to act with dispatch on a proposal to sell high value real properties in Makati City.

The properties are located in the Mile Long commercial complex and Ecology Village. They have a combined area of nearly 12 hectares and are occupied by several commercial and residential establishments including the Mile Long commercial complex, Ecology Village, Sunvar Plaza, the Makati fire department and post office, and the parking lot of Don Bosco College.

Of the total land area, Napocor controls 2.6-ha while the National Government owns the remaining nine or more hectares. The properties are being leased by the Philippine Development Alternatives Foundation Inc. (PDAF) at P1 per square meter per year since 1978. By the mid ‘90s, real property rates in the area had risen to P125,000 per sq. m. If sold separately, that should result in earnings of P12.2 billion for the NG and P3.48 billion for Napocor.

"The government will get a better price overall in a coordinated and joint action between the National Government and Napocor," lawyer Rainier B. Butalid, Napocor general counsel, said.

Butalid said the Napocor board decided unanimously in may to privatize its property . Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho chairs the board while Energy Secretary Vicente S. Perez is vice chairman.

However, Malacañang has not acted upon the board’s decision, which was transmitted in May this year.

Sunvar Realty Development Corp. is one of the major sublessees of the properties. Carlos S. Rufino, owner of Sunvar Realty wants to renew its contract for P1.25 per sq. m. For this, Rufino wrote the Office of the President and the Land Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).