Marcos mansions rotting

BAGUIO CITY ,Philippines  – Several properties of the Marcoses sequestered by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) are rotting because of the government’s lack of resources to maintain them.

“Although they could still command high prices because they are located in prime locations in the city, the commission lacks money for their upkeep,” PCGG Commissioner Ma. Ngina Chan-Gonzaga said.

She said the poor maintenance of several sequestered properties

of Marcos crony Jose Yao Campos and the 3,875-square meter Hans Menzi compound in Outlook Drive, during a forum at the Saint Louis University here.

She said the Hans Menzi property alone can still command a staggering P36.15 million in the market.

Other properties surrendered by Campos include the 2,677-square meter property at the Banaue Inn compound, a 17,516-square-meter lot at the J.Y. Campos compound and a 1,146-square meter lot at the Wigwam compound – all with appraised value estimated at around P154.71 million.

The PCGG claimed that some of the properties had already been looted and were poorly maintained when it took over.

The commission is looking into privatizing the properties and the Hans Menzi compound will be up for bidding to interested buyers in March.

One property owned by Josefa Edralin, the dictator’s mother, has already been sold in 2007 to San Miguel Corp.’s Eduardo Cojuangco.

The Government Privatization Council (GPC), according to the PCGG, has already approved the plan for the selling of the properties through sealed public bidding.

Some properties, however, needed GPC approval and the final consent of President Aquino before they could be privatized.

PCGG is winding down operations after 25 years.

Gonzaga said the PCGG has signed a memorandum of agreement for the maintenance of the properties including paintings and religious icons to prevent the decrease of their market value.

The PCGG furnished the city council of Baguio a list of Marcos properties in 2007 after the city’s tourism council thought of several proposals for the use of the mansions as tourist destinations.

There was even a proposal in 2006 to request the PCGG to “transfer ownership of all sequestered Marcos properties in Baguio to the city government.”