The Department of Finance (DOF) is contemplating a joint venture (JV) with the Maharlika Investment Corporation or the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) to facilitate the sale of government mining assets, according to Finance Undersecretary Catherine L. Fong.
In a report by Business World, Undersecretary Fong mentioned that the potential partnership would involve finding a suitable partner to maximize the government’s benefit from the assets.
The Privatization and Management Office (PMO), which is part of the DOF, is responsible for overseeing the transfer of government and inactive assets to the market.
The PMO is also responsible for finalizing the valuation of the Basay mining project in Negros Oriental and has been receiving technical assistance from donors to help value the Basay mine.
However, Fong said delays in privatizing mining assets led to the high cost of determining their value, seeing as Basay is ready for sale with a clean title but lacks a complete valuation, requiring costly drilling to determine its real value.
Additionally, other mining assets are delayed due to litigation, further hindering their sale, according to the PMO.
Fong added that other assets need drilling to verify the quality and size of remaining minerals, which is expensive and challenging to do based only on desktop studies.
Other mining assets planned for sale include Marcopper Mining Corporation in Marinduque, Maricalum Mining Corporation in Negros Occidental, Pacific Nickel Philippines, Inc. in Surigao del Norte, and the North Davao Mining property in Davao del Norte.
The DOF is aiming to raise Php 40 billion from privatization efforts this year.
The National Government has already raised Php 12.22 million from privatized assets in June, up 252.16% year on year. Meanwhile, the PMO raised P3.24 million from the sale of Northern Cement Corp. and Nonoc Mining.
The NG earned P8.93 million from leases and an additional P50,000 in interest income. The PMO achieved impressive results in 2023, collecting P1.94 billion in revenue, which was 168% above its target.
