PCGG to remit P450M to gov’t

MANILA, Philippines - The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) hopes to remit some P450 million to the government coffers this year, officials said yesterday.

PCGG chairman Andres Bautista said the agency has so far remitted P284.4 million to the National Treasury, of which P247.1 million came from the sale of the 4,038-square meter Mapalad property in Paranaque City.

The Mapalad property is one of the properties sequestered by the PCGG from known Marcos crony Jose Campos in 1986.

The Ciriaco Realty and Development Corp. won the bidding for the Mapalad property last March 15.

The proceeds from the sale were remitted to the Bureau of Treasury to be used in the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

The current administration has successfully privatized properties amounting to almost half a billion pesos, according to Bautista.

He said another government sequestered property, the 17, 516.20-square meter J. Y. Campos compound in Baguio City is up for bidding by the second half of the year. He said the property costs around P150 million.

Last year, the commission remitted approximately P567 million to the National Treasury, excluding the P56.5 billion which the body remitted on Oct. 5, 2012 after San Miguel Corp. redeemed 753-million state-held shares.

“This is the largest single recovery of the commission to date,” Bautista said.

Between 1986 and 2012, the PCGG has remitted a total of P164.15 billion to the National Treasury, he said.