MANILA, Philippines—Malacańang yesterday scoffed at Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr.’s claim that the Arroyo administration was rushing the sale of government assets to build up its campaign war chest for the 2010 elections.
The sale of government assets has been a priority project of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo since she took power in January 2001, said Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo.
“Privatization has been a program of our administration for a long time. This isn’t being done only now. This is part of revenue generation,” she told a Malacańang briefing.
If he has evidence to prove any irregularity in the privatization of government assets, Pimentel should file charges, Fajardo said.
“If there’s any proof to these charges, they can always file cases against government officials. But it would be unfair to say that we are rushing the sale of these assets,” she said.
Pimentel alleged the administration was resorting to a “midnight sale” of government assets before the end of President Macapagal-Arroyo’s term in 2010 to “fatten [the administration’s] campaign war chest.”
He said the administration had been selling all kinds of assets to offset its deficiency in tax collection, “without due regard to the strategic importance” of maintaining a stake in these enterprises.
Fajardo said the executive branch would study Pimentel’s proposal to stop the sale of the assets, saying that “perhaps there’s a valid reason why they’re opposing it. We can sit down and talk about it.”
The militant Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said it agreed with Pimentel and asked the President to issue an executive order freezing the further privatization of state assets.
An alliance of government workers, the Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (Courage), also said it was opposed to the “midnight sale” of government assets.
“Instead of allotting sufficient budgets to agencies that do not generate lucrative profit, the government has resorted to a desperate measure of selling them to private entities.
This would definitely result in more inaccessible services. The proceeds from the sales of these assets will also not largely benefit the Filipino people,” said Courage secretary general Santi Dasmarińas.
Courage challenged the presidential aspirants to make a definite stand against the wholesale privatization and massive retrenchment of government workers. With Jerome Aning
