Sell military golf courses to fund COVID-19 stimulus package, says Lagman

MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker is proposing the sale of military golf courses to fund the P1-trillion stimulus package to cushion the effect of the COVID-19 crisis.

According to Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman, President Rodrigo Duterte can auction off golf courses in Camp Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, Villamor Air Base, and the Veterans Memorial Medical Center to generate the money to help business and individuals affected by the epidemic.

“In my proposal for a P1-trillion economic stimulus, I identified the sale of government properties as among the funding sources for the stimulus,” Lagman said in a statement on Sunday.

“These three golf courses have a total area of approximately 150 hectares of prime real estate which could fetch a total of more than P150-billion,” he added.

The lawmaker said that Camp Aguinaldo golf course is near major highways such as EDSA, C-5 and high-scale subdivisions like White Plains, Corinthian Gardens, and Green Meadows.

Lagman also noted that Villamor Air Base, where the Villamor Golf Course is located, is adjacent to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and the “sprawling Resorts World Complex just south of the Makati Central Business District.”

He further said that the Veterans Golf Course, located at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center, is less than three kilometers from the Philippine Government Center and just 10 kilometers from Makati and Manila.

“It would be recalled that in 1992, or almost two decades ago, 240 hectares of Fort Bonifacio was privatized, including an 18-hole championship golf course. It was subsequently sold for a reported ‘P333,283.88 per square meter’,” Lagman said.

“Twenty-five hectares of Villamor Air Base was also later privatized and is now known as the Newport City, an urban integrated tourism resort complex,” the lawmaker added.

Lagman earlier proposed a P1-trillion “stimulus package” to help families and businesses affected by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

The lawmaker said the funds can be used for the government to continue its social and labor amelioration program not just for low-income households, but also for middle-class families.

Moreover, Lagman said National Economic Development Authority Secretary Ernesto Pernia also agreed that both micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and major corporations “need lifelines to recover and stay afloat.”

KGA