(File photo courtesy of PTV)
MANILA -- The government has so far earned more than PHP142 million from the 2.2 hectare Mile Long property in Makati City since it took over the management of this state-owned prime real estate in August 2017, the Department of Finance (DOF) disclosed in a statement on Wednesday.
Gerard Chan, the Chief Privatization Officer of the DOF-attached Privatization Management Office (PMO) said the government’s net earnings of PHP142 million in rental fees over a 21-month period for the Mile Long Property represents an average profit of around PHP6.7 million per month.
In contrast, the government was able to collect nothing in rental fees from this prime Makati lot's former lessee, Sunvar Realty Development Corp., for 14 years prior to PMO's takeover in 2017 owing to the then-pending legal case over the property.
In a report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, Chan said that since the government took over the management of the property from Sunvar in August 2017, the government has earned a gross income of PHP185 million in rental fees.
Deducting expenses totaling PHP42.46 million over the August 2017 to June 2019 period, yields a net income of PHP142.6 million.
“That’s roughly (an income of) PHP7 million a month from zero,” Dominguez said upon hearing Chan’s report during a recent DOF Executive Committee (Execom) meeting.
Dominguez was referring to the 14-year period when the government was earning nothing from the Mile Long property because the government was embroiled in a legal battle with Sunvar, which refused to vacate the property even after its lease contract had expired in 2002.
Chan said that as of June 2019, 128 establishments are now occupying 219 of the 309 available units in Mile Long, representing a 71 percent occupancy rate.
The government also earns from leasing out the three parking areas in the property, Chan added. (PR)
