The sale of, and lease rentals from, state properties for privatization along with the interest income from still unsold government assets brought in P17.4 million of remittances​ to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) in the first month of 2018, according to a report by the Privatization and Management Office (PMO) to the Department of Finance (DOF).

Atty. Gerard Chan, Chief Privatization Officer of the PMO, reported to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III that the PMO forwarded to the BTr a Land Bank of the Philippines cheque dated Jan. 24, 2018 in the amount of P17,399,864.03 from the December 2017 collection.

Of this amount, P11,287,801.17 came from the sale of government properties and other assets, P6,094,494.49 from lease rentals, and P17,568.37 from CARP (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program) ​-receivables, Chan said.

He said P6,772,680.70 of the sales amount will accrue to the Agrarian Reform Fund while a total of P10,627,183.33 from the portion of the sales, along with the amount collected from the lease rentals and interest income will go to the General Fund.

Earlier, the PMO turned over to the BTr Landbank Cheque No. 149416 dated Oct. 19, 2017 for the amount of P289,485,684.91.

This was the biggest amount remitted by PMO so far from January-September 2017 collection, which came from the sale of shares in Asean Finance Corporation and special cash dividend from Semirara Mining Corporation.

Alongside the proceeds from this sale, PMO remittances for the January-September 2017 period also came from the proceeds of lease, CARP-covered landholdings, interest income and other disposition.

Total PMO remittances to the government reached P286.4 million in July-December 2016 period, or the first six months of the Duterte administration.

​In the first quarter of 2018,​ the PMO is targeting to bid out some P98.32 million-worth of state-owned assets. ​

Chan said these government-owned assets cover 63 lots in Luzon and Mindanao and a membership share at a golf and country club.

These include 35 parcels of land in Quezon City and the provinces of Laguna, Camarines Norte and Quezon under the name of the Peninsula Development Bank with a floor price of P26.948 million; four residential and commercial lots of the Selectra Electronics Corp. in Tanay, Rizal, P16.018 million; and two residential lots of the Delta Motors Corp. in Paranaque City, P6.142 million.

According to the PMO, these were scheduled for bidding last month.

The remaining assets set for bidding this​ month include two lots under the name of the Retired Servicemen Enterprises Inc. with a floor price of P2.509 million, seven parcels of land in Bulacan, Quezon City, Tagaytay, and Marikina under the Development Bank of Rizal with a combined value of P35.237 million will also be put on the auction block, Chan said.

Thirteen residential and agricultural parcels of land in General Santos City under the name of the Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines with a total floor price of P10.271 million and a membership share worth P1.2 million at the Canlubang Golf and Country Club under the name of Merchants Investment Corp. will also be sold in March this year, Chan said.

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