MANILA, Philippines—The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) is set to auction off next month two prime properties once owned by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos for at least P315 million.
PCGG Chair Andres Bautista said on Saturday the government would put up for public bidding on April 24 a 4,038-sqm commercial and residential property in Parañaque City and a 3,875.57-sqm lot in Baguio City. The two properties were surrendered to the government by close Marcos associate Jose Yao Campos in 1986.
The Parañaque lot, known as the Mapalad property on Roxas Boulevard, is expected to go for at least P315.87 million. The one in Baguio, the Hans Menzi residential lot on Outlook Drive North, is estimated to be worth least P37.246 million.
Bautista said the auction was approved by the Department of Finance’s Privatization Council.
Proceeds of the sale will be used to fund the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
“We are confident that… the strategic location of the properties (would) attract more bidders, generating higher value,” said PCGG Commissioner Roger Amurao.
The Parañaque property is located across from a major leisure and casino project while the one in Baguio is situated near popular tourist attractions.
While Marcos and his family fled abroad after his downfall in 1986, some of his key allies surrendered assets they were holding for the ex-president as part of settlement deals with government.
The PCGG, tasked 25 years ago to recover Marcos’ ill-gotten wealth, has remitted to the national government a total P93.421 billion worth of recovered and privatized assets.
The agency hopes to get back P405.7 million more this year.
However, the commission has long complained that the lack of a paper trail and delaying tactics employed by lawyers for the Marcos estate prevented it from recovering more. With an AFP report