Resolution 51, filed by Sen. Ralph Recto on July 21, 2010, yet, was dusted off after Sen. Frank Drilon, in a budget hearing last week, also asked the Department of National Defense (DND) to consider entering into private-public-partnership (PPP) arrangements to maximize income potentials from five military-owned golf courses in Metro Manila valued at P45 billion, to raise funds to modernize the Armed Forces.
In filing Resolution 51, Recto recalled that the BCDA was created by Republic Act (RA) 7227, also known as the Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992, with powers to enter into joint-venture agreements with private developers, including Fort Bonifacio Development Corp., Ayala Land Inc., Greenfield Development Corp. and Megaworld Corp., to develop into commercial and residential complex prime realty assets in Fort Bonifacio, Villamor Airbase and Clark Airbase, among others.
But Recto noted in his resolution that while the BCDA declared a P40.911-billion income through the proceeds of its asset disposition as of 2008, “the general public has yet to be fully informed on where these funds went to, how they were spent or if they went to the mandated recipients.”
He pointed out that RA 7227 specifically provided that BCDA earnings are to be apportioned as follows:
32.5 percent to finance the transfer of the military camps and the construction of new camps, the self-reliance and modernization program of the armed forces, the concessional and long-term housing-loan assistance and livelihood assistance to AFP officers and enlisted men and their families, and the rehabilitation and expansion of the AFP’s medical facilities;
50 percent to finance the conversion and the commercial uses of Clark and Subic military reservations and their extensions;
5 percent to finance the concessional and long-term housing-loan assistance for the homeless of Metro Manila, Olongapo City, Angeles City and other affected municipalities contiguous to the bases areas as mandated herein.
It added that “the balance shall accrue and be remitted to the National Treasury to be appropriated thereafter by Congress for the sole purpose of financing programs and projects vital for the economic upliftment of the Filipino people.”
According to Recto, “it is a constitutional right of every citizen that he be given access to information on matters imbued with public interest and that the BCDA must be transparent in all its corporate dealings by providing the public regular and updated reports on the disposition of its income.”
It is for these reasons that he asked the Senate, during the First Regular Session of the 15th Congress last year, to direct the appropriate committee to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, to look into the matter. The Senate leadership referred the Recto resolution primarily to the Finance Committee chaired by Drilon.
In last week’s Finance panel hearing on the proposed 2012 defense budget, Drilon had noted that besides other assets, the military also maintains golf courses at the AFP headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, the Villamor Airbase, the Army and the Navy courses at Fort Bonifacio, and the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City, which can be tapped to raise additional funds for the military establishment.
Drilon suggested that Defense officials can “enter into a long-term lease with developers and generate lease rentals [from these golf courses] which should be sufficient, on a yearly basis, added to the budget for capital outlay. At P45 billion, if you just say 10 percent return, that is P4.5 billion a year without selling.”
He estimated that at a minimum of 30 hectares per golf course, “that is 150 hectares right here in Manila.”
The senator estimated that at an average of P30,000 per square meter, the Air Force, Navy, Army, general headquarters and Veterans golf courses have “a value of about P45 billion...at least P45 billion in assets of the AFP which are just being used as golf courses.”
“I don’t think that we need these golf courses. What we need is to modernize our Armed Forces. We are asking the DND to look at these assets for purposes of a source of revenue for the modernization of our Armed Forces,” Drilon asserted, adding, “we are not saying that they should sell the assets, but certainly they should have a better income from these assets worth at least P45 billion.”
He said the VMMC, for instance, with about 33 hectares of golf course with a value of P11.5 billion, earns only P1.6 million a year.
“That is the kind of income that is being realized out of this asset. It is very clear that by better utilization of the assets of the AFP, we can modernize our Armed Forces.”
