The government plans to cut up the 2.9-hectare Mile Long property into parts and sell some of them to the private sector, the Department of Finance said on Thursday.
The proposed sale would come after the property has been properly appraised, an exercise seen completed next month, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said.
“Essentially, I want to divide [the property] into three or four lots, probably sell two and keep two,” Dominguez told financial reporters.
Mile Long had been in the possession of Sunvar Realty for 35 years until the Regional Trial Court in Makati City told the Prieto family to vacate the property.
It leased the undeveloped government land 35 years ago on the understanding that the lease period would expire in 2027. Sunvar paid P16.8 million as advance rentals and spent millions more to build roads, buildings and infrastructure to develop the property.
Dominguez said he told President Duterte they do not plan to sell the entire lot but only portions of it: “Once the development starts there, the price will go up, so why shouldn’t we benefit from it?”
Duterte previously said the proceeds from the sale would be used to fund housing projects.