Do you have P33.63 billion to invest? If so, you may want to buy the Government Service Insurance System’s (GSIS) Port Area property.
State-run GSIS said it would sell its nonperforming assets in Port Area, including the lot being occupied by the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT).
GSIS President and General Manager Jesus Clint Aranas said they would pursue the sale of their Port Area properties after the Department of Finance (DOF) released its latest zonal valuations.
The properties include a 672,645-square-meter industrial/commercial lot, where the MICT is located, and a residential space of about 109,212 square meters.
The zonal valuation of industrial/commercial lot in the area is now pegged at P50,000 per square meter or a total of P33.63 billion for the Port Area property, compared to the P25.56 billion recorded value last year, GSIS said.
Meanwhile, its residential lot, which is about 109,212 square meters, is now valued at P3.82 billion compared to the P412.82 million value last year.
With the new zonal valuation, the GSIS said it already had a valuation gain of P11.481 billion.
“We will sell the nonperforming assets in the area,” Aranas said in a news briefing on Tuesday.
“We will sell it immediately. Believe me. It will happen and I would do it,” Aranas added.
Aranas said he would bring up to the next GSIS board meeting, slated two weeks from now, the sale of their port area properties.
As early as last year, GSIS was ready to bid out the two properties, but Aranas deferred the sale as the assets were not assessed on current valuation.
Existing laws mandate the GSIS to sell its assets at current valuation, Aranas said.
“I do not see any opposition [from the board] in selling this property. We already allowed it to be sold, it’s just that I withdrew it because the value wasn’t current, and we would be liable if we pushed through,” he said.
“They are a very supportive and transparent board. And they want to do their best to improve the financial situation of the GSIS and have good governance,” he added.
Aranas said the GSIS gets no rental payments from the occupants of its port area properties, currently being supervised by the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).
He said the GSIS has been losing about P80 million a month since the 1970s, adding that they sent several letters to the International Container Terminal Services Inc., which manages MICT, and the PPA to settle the dispute over the property, but the two agencies didn’t bother to reply.
“We are being ignored. We wrote seven letters to ICTSI addressed to [Enrique] Razon Jr., but they were all ignored,” Aranas said.
“[We also wrote] to the PPA, but we got the same results. The letters were ignored. GSIS was ignored,” Aranas said.
“At this point, no one is bothering to reply to us. We want to have the P80-million monthly rental, we want to negotiate with them, but they do not reply. Is this a black hole?” he asked.
Aranas said the GSIS doors are being kept open in case the PPA and, in particular, the ICTSI would want to negotiate with them over the Port Area properties.
“We are very much willing to talk to them. Let’s sit down and finish this debacle,” he said. “But I am only willing to defer the sale of the properties if it is commercially viable for GSIS. This is not our money, this is the government employees’ money.”