Purisima: Cabinet eyeing privatization of govt assets

Preliminary talks between Cabinet members are ongoing about the possible privatization of various government assets including military and police camps in Metro Manila, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said Friday. In a press briefing after the vin d'honneur in Malacañang, Purisima said he and other Cabinet members are discussing options on how to put idle government assets to "best use" as directed by President Benigno Aquino III. Purisima said he has talked to Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Enrique Ona about the possible privatization of a 40-hectare DOH property in Cebu. "What we need to do is really get together with all the departments, make an inventory of these, and see how we can redeploy these properties so that they are put to their best use," he said. He said he has also talked to Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) leadership about the possible privatization of the 178-hectare Camp Emilio Aguinaldo and the 33-hectare Camp Rafael Crame, which face each other on both sides of the historic Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) in Quezon City. Camp Aguinaldo is the national headquarters of the AFP and various other Department of National Defense offices, while Camp Crame is the national headquarters of the Philippine National Police. "Do we need military camps right in the middle of the city? That's a question that needs to be answered," Purisima said.

"They're (Gazmin and military leadership) all very supportive of the fact that for example, Aguinaldo and Crame should probably not be there and should probably be redeveloped, and the proceeds [may be used] to build a better, bigger site of a consolidated military facility and at the same time help modernize the armed forces and help fund some of the pension and health liabilities of the military," he said. In the mid-1990s, vast portions of the Fort Andres Bonifacio military reservation in Taguig City were converted to commercial and other civilian uses under the Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992, with the proceeds supposedly going into the AFP’s modernization program. Last September, the AFP said it is open to the proposal to relocate Camp Aguinaldo in the hope that the proceeds from the move will boost its long-delayed modernization program. It was not clear whether Purisima also consulted the Department of the Interior and Local Government, which administers the PNP. Purisima stressed that all discussions of privatization are still "preliminary" and the proposals still need to be studied carefully. "All of these discussions are ongoing right now and are at preliminary stages. As you know, when it comes to doing things, we have to do things by studying them, planning them, and doing feasibility studies," he said.—Jam L. Sisante/JV, GMANews.TV