Government sets June bidding for IS property in Makati

The Cabinet privatization committee has approved the privatization plan for the 4.5-hectare prime property now occupied by the International School in Makati and has set the bidding in mid-June.

During its Cabinet-level meeting on Wednesday night, the committee decided to sell the property on an "as-is-where-is" basis, disregarding the option to reclassify the property from "institutional" into "commercial."

The value of the property would have increased dramatically had it been reclassified, but committee members said the government did not want to wait for the rezoning of the area.

"We just want to expedite the privatization process, considering how long this has been delayed," said Finance Undersecretary Eric Recto.

According to Recto, the plan approved by the committee is to bid out the IS property as a whole lot and the bid terms would be published sometime in the third week of February with the actual auction tentatively set in June.

Recto said the committee has approved and accepted the first valuation submitted by the financial adviser and the committee is only waiting for the second valuation which would serve as a basis for comparison.

According to Recto, the Makati government was still interested in the property but the committee decided not to wait. "They are unable to make any offer to the National Government so we’re selling it as is, where is," he said.

Recto declined to reveal the indicative price until the committee has accepted the second valuation but the property was earlier expected to generate at least P2 billion for the government.

Recto expressed optimism that the IS property would attract bidders. Ayala Land Inc., Robinsons Land and two other developers have reportedly expressed interest in the property since last year.

The IS property has been lined up for privatization since early last year but the government was unwilling to immediately divest of the property due to unfavorable market conditions.

The property was already being packaged for public bidding but the actual auction had been put off pending the conclusion of talks between Malacañang and the city government of Makati which had initially signified its interest in the property.

The Department of Finance (DOF) is in the process of conducting a full audit on all government properties that have been lined up for privatization and appointed Recto to oversee the disposition of the properties.