By Beatriz Marie D. Cruz, Reporter
THE DEPARTMENT of Finance (DoF) said it may enter into a joint venture (JV) with the Maharlika Investment Corp. or the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) to effect the sale of government mining assets.
“We are exploring a JV — possibly with GSIS or Maharlika. So, they will be in charge of finding a partner… if there’s an upside (which we think there is), the government still benefits,” Finance Undersecretary Catherine L. Fong told BusinessWorld via Viber.
The Privatization and Management Office (PMO), an arm of the DoF, is in charge of disposing of government assets and idle property to the private sector.
Delays in the privatization of mining assets have been attributed to the costly process of determining their value, Ms. Fong said.
The PMO said it is still finalizing the valuation of the Basay mining project in Negros Oriental.
“It’s ready for sale because the title is clean. The problem is we only have a desktop valuation. The real value will only be determined with drilling.”
The PMO has been relying on technical assistance from donors to help value the Basay mine.
Privatization aims to generate additional revenue for the government.
Other mining assets are tied up in litigation, delaying their disposal, the PMO said.
“The others have pending cases. Then we’ll have to value them like Basay. The drilling is a little expensive. That’s where we’re stuck,” Ms. Fong said.
“The value of the desktop study is (low) versus the potential value, if only we could verify the quality and size of the remaining minerals. That’s why it’s hard to sell at this point when we only have the desktop study.”
Other mining assets that the government plans to sell include Marcopper Mining Corp. in Marinduque, Maricalum Mining Corp. in Negros Occidental, Pacific Nickel Philippines, Inc. in Surigao del Norte, and the North Davao Mining property in Davao del Norte.
The DoF plans to raise P40 billion from privatization this year.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported that privatization revenue in June surged year on year.
According to the Treasury, the National Government (NG) raised P12.22 million from privatized assets in June, up 252.16% from a year earlier.
The PMO raised P3.24 million from the P2.1-million sale of Northern Cement Corp., and the P1.14-million sale of Nonoc Mining.
The NG also collected P8.93 million from leases and P50,000 in interest income, BTr said.
No revenue was generated from the Al Amanah Islamic Bank and the Metro Manila Development Authority, the BTr said.
The Presidential Commission on Good Government, Philippine Mining Development Corp., and other offices also did not raise privatization revenue, it added.
In the six months to June period, the NG collected P411.52 million from privatized assets, up 673.97% from a year earlier.
In 2023, the PMO collected P1.94 billion in revenue, exceeding its target by 168%.
