Government not in a hurry to sell camps - Palace

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang reiterated yesterday it was in no rush to sell camps Aguinaldo and Crame in Quezon City.

“Again, are we going to sell it? Are we going to lease it? That’s all part of the discussions. There is no final say in that regard. What will happen to the proceeds? We also do not know yet,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.

He stressed that the Ortigas family owns only a portion of Camp Aguinaldo while the rest is the property of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

“There is no final decision on the matter. It’s still preliminary, very preliminary so there’s still a long way before we can see the ending on this particular project,” Lacierda said.

He said the Department of Finance (DOF) would discuss the planned sale of the camps with the Department of National Defense, the AFP, and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

“Again, all angles will be studied, to really discuss and this is a major project by this government, so we want to make sure that whatever outcome that we will come up with would fly,” he said.

He said whether the proceeds would be used for the modernization of the military and the police or for the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program would also have to be looked into first.

“Would a sale be legal in the first place? Those things would have to be studied – the economic impact and all these matters should be taken into consideration before a decision is reached,” Lacierda said. – With Marvin Sy and Jaime Laude