The Department of Finance (DOF) has ordered the Privatization and Management Office (PMO) and Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) to discuss with the Commission on Audit (COA) how to dispose of the government’s idle assets.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III has directed the PMO and the PDIC to discuss with state-run banks, as well as the COA ways on relaxing stringent auditing rules that officials believe have long hobbled government efforts to dispose of its idle assets.
“I want a meeting organized with the COA, mainly with the two [state] banks we have; the Central Bank may want to participate. [We need to] tell them that this COA requirement that we sell at market value isn’t working because we just keep on adding to the titles particularly with the PDIC, and we’re just getting overwhelmed,” Dominguez said at a recent meeting of the DOF’s Executive Committee.
According to the finance chief, COA Circular 89-296 requiring the sale of unproductive state assets at their appraised values has hampered, rather than facilitated, efforts by the government to dispose of these idle properties.
The PMO, which is an attached agency of the DOF, said the PDIC, Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank), Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) are among the state agencies that have been unable to sell many of their idle but serviceable properties because of the COA circular.
The COA circular states that such assets should be divested either through public auction, negotiated sale, barter, or transfer to other government agencies based on their “appraised value[s].”
Chief Privatization Officer Gerard L. Chan reported to Dominguez that the PMO alone has some 28,000 land titles to dispose of, while the PDIC has around 23,000 more.
Chan said the PMO is not covered by the 30-year-old COA circular.
“This was made clear by the state audit agency in a memo issued on November 20, 2017, which states that COA Circular 89-296 does not apply to foreclosed assets held by PMO and sold in the ordinary course of business and the assets/properties held by the PMO pursuant to Proclamation 50 and sold in the regular course of its business are not within the purview of COA Circular 89-296,” Chan said.
The finance chief explained that rather than continuing the imposition of an ineffective set of rules to dispose of idle assets, the government would be better off selling them at discounted prices that would attract more buyers, which then would be able to redevelop these properties for productive or commercial use.
“The objective is to ask COA to cooperate with us and propose ways of turning these assets into cash, because cash helps the economy,” Dominguez added. “Selling it even at a discount allows [these assets] to be redeveloped and used. Right now, it’s just an expense.”
Unproductive or idle state assets were pointed out to only add to the state’s financial burden, considering that taxes have to be paid and personnel have to be hired to keep these properties serviceable.
Dominguez instructed Chan to determine the number of land titles and properties held by the DOF, LandBank, DBP and other state agencies and government-owned and -controlled corporations in preparation for the planned discussions with COA officials.
Image credits: Roy Domingo