MANILA, Philippines - The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), the state-owned pension fund for government employees, is eyeing to sell some of its big-ticket real estate properties in Ortigas in the first half of next year, its top official said.
GSIS president and general manager Robert Vergara said one property is in Ortigas Center which is currently being used as an impounding area by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).
“We’ve earmarked the disposal of the MMDA property in Ortigas Center. It’s a big property,” he said.
Another real estate property is in Manila which is also scheduled for disposal in the first half of 2012.
Vergara said they are just waiting for a better time to sell a property in Fort Bonifacio which is about 8,000 square meters. This property was appraised at P1 billion, Vergara said.
He said that GSIS has roughly P33 billion worth of properties representing five percent of the system’s asset base.
Among the different real estate assets of GSIS, the five-hectare lot that hosts Hotel Sofitel is GSIS’ priciest property.
“The priciest property in its books is the 5-hectare Philippine Plaza Hotel property which is appraised at P6 billion but it is not for sale,” Vergara said.
The pension fund has roughly 44 big-ticket real estate items, he said. But he stressed that GSIS is under no pressure to dispose or liquidate its real estate assets.
“We are under no pressure to sell our real estate properties. Our cash position is strong, and we are enjoying good returns on our assets. This is just part of the review we are taking on our assets. In reviewing our real properties, it is an issue of the location and the dynamics of strong demand and short supply so that we are able to get the best possible value for our property,” Vergara said.