PCGG raises P158 million from sale of Bugarin properties
MANILA, Philippines — The Presidential Commission on Good Government announced Tuesday it raised P157.7 million from the auction of three properties confiscated from the estate of former National Bureau of Investigation director Jolly Bugarin.
PCGG Chairman Andy Bautista said in a statement that the combined winning bids of P157.7 million for the three properties at North Greenhills, Valle Verde III, and Capitol Hills were 38 percent more than the combined minimum price of P114.3 million set by the inter-agency privatization council.
The proceeds of the sale will be used for the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
“We cannot yet disclose the identities of the winning bidders because the PCGG will still need to endorse the results of the bidding process including our recommendation to the privatization council,” Bautista said.
According to the PCGG chairman, there were a total of 29 bidders for the three properties. The North Greenhills 727-square-meter property, which had a floor price of P60.743 million, was sold for P83.126 million.
The 721-square-meter Valle Verde property was bought for P64.024 million, much higher than its floor price of P45.471 million, while the 582-square-meter Capitol Hills property sold for P10.551 million, P2.403 million more than the minimum bid price.
The forfeited properties, Bautista said, represent the first recoveries through the country’s justice system under Republic Act 1379, which was passed in 1955 and provides for forfeiture of assets illegally acquired by public officials.
The Bugarin properties were forfeited in favor of the government after the Supreme Court issued a writ of execution in June last year.
The properties were allegedly illegally acquired by the late Bugarin from 1968 to 1980 and were valued at P6.3 million when the PCGG sought their forfeiture in 1986.
In 2002, the Supreme Court ordered the Sandiganbayan to identify the properties to be confiscated as it was not convinced of the former NBI director’s means to acquire P2.1 million worth of houses and lots since he was only paid over P760,000 during his entire tenure with the bureau.
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