DESPITE a sharp reduction in this year’s privatization revenue target, the Privatization and Management Office (PMO) will push through the sale of several big-ticket assets by year’s end.
On the sidelines of HSBC’s flagship event on Tuesday, Chief Privatization Officer and Finance Undersecretary Michael Peter A. Alejandro told reporters the three flagship assets in the pipeline will remain for disposal in the second half of the year.
These assets include the Mile Long building in Makati City, targeted for disposition by the end of the third quarter, as well as Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) and the government’s 20-percent stake in the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) slated for sale in the fourth quarter.
The government is currently conducting appraisals for the properties, which will have to undergo the required approval process before they can be offered for sale.
‘We’re looking forward to FTI and Mile Long. We’re really getting things rolling for that,’ Alejandro said.
Any of the planned 2026 asset sales that do not push through this year would instead be carried over to 2027, he noted.
In the first half of the year, the government generated P1.9 billion in privatization revenues, Alejandro said, nearly matching the P2 billion raised in 2025.
However, this accounts for only 4.9 percent of this year’s lowered privatization revenue target of P38.1 billion, recently adjusted by the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC).
The supposed target of P101 billion was moved to 2027 due to ‘accounting issues,’ Alejandro said, as the government expects proceeds from the sale of the Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan (CBK) hydropower assets to come in next year.
About P36.27 billion in proceeds from CBK’s privatization will be remitted, while the Agus-Pulangi hydropower complex is also being considered for a transaction next year.
Alejandro said the government is exploring a public-private partnership (PPP) for the hydroelectric complex located in Mindanao.
The Agus-Pulangi hydropower complex consists of seven run-of-river hydroelectric power plants with a combined installed capacity of 1,000 megawatts (MW), but only 700MW are operational due to aging infrastructure.
The Department of Energy has said that the government may award the contract by the end of 2026 to rehabilitate the hydro asset. The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (Psalm) is also evaluating two unsolicited proposals.
The government is also expecting around P800 million from the disposal of smaller assets next year, Alejandro said.
There are over 28,000 titles, mostly small assets measuring about 200 square meters, up for sale, according to the Department of Finance.
By privatizing state assets, the government monetizes underutilized assets and generates additional funding for public spending.
This year, the government aims to raise P4.807 trillion in revenues, of which P327 billion will come from non-tax revenues.