Teves dismisses Garcia complaint on FTI sale

MANILA, Philippines - Finance Secretary Margarito Teves yesterday dismissed the complaints aired by Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) president and general manager Winston Garcia concerning the sale of the government’s Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) property in Taguig.

Teves said the government had followed the appropriate process.

“GSIS has been given the chance and time to improve its offer which the privatization council, a Cabinet-level body, found way bellow the appraised value of FTI, and this was properly communicated to them,” said Teves in a text message yesterday.

Garcia has threatened to file a complaint against the Department of Finance (DOF) before the Office of the Ombudsman if it proceeds with the sale of the property without offering it first to the state-owned pension fund.

The GSIS chief said that last year, he made a formal offer to the government that the pension fund is willing to buy the property for P7 billion. This, he claimed, would be paid in cash, upfront. GSIS had planned to enter into agreements with private real estate companies to develop the property.

The government has attempted several times to sell the FTI property. It is now in talks with a private real estate company for a negotiated sale of the complex.

From a previous valuation of P15.9 billion in 2009, the property is now for sale for only P7.5 billion to P9 billion.

For the second time this year, the government has decided to lower the price of the agro-industrial property on hopes that it would finally be able to attract buyers for the prime asset.

In early February, the government also decided to lower the selling price of the property to P9 to P10 billion from a previous estimate of P13 billion.

Sources said the property has been offered to giant developers including the Ayala Group, Robinson’s Land and Henry Sy’s SM Development Corp.