Gov’t earns P205.76M from Mile Long property —DOF

The 2.2-hectare Mile Long property in Makati City has brought the government a net income of P205.76 million during the last two years or exactly 28 months since the Duterte administration took over the management of the controversial estate.

Citing a report by the Privatization Management Office (PMO) to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Tuesday that the government has so far collected P262.68 million from August 2017 to January 2020 from tenants occupying the Mile Long property.

The government also expects to collect another P2.56 million in receivables.

“This brings the actual and estimated total collections from the prime lot to P265.25 million as of January 2020, said Chief Privatization Officer Gerard Chan of the DOF-attached PMO,” the Finance department noted.

Deducting actual and estimated expenses amounting to P59.48 million, the property nets an income of P205.76 million over the last 28 months that the PMO has been managing the property, according to Chan.

The Mile Long property has a total of 312 rental units, of which 227 are occupied by 131 establishments, and leaving 85 units available for occupancy. 

Chan said 22  of these available units are reserved for the Supreme Court,  which  has signified its intention to house some of its offices at the Sunvar Plaza portion of the Mile Long lot.

He earlier said the government has been earning around P7 million a month in net income from the Mile Long  property since the government took over its management in August 2017 or two years ago.

In contrast, the DOF said the government has not collected any rental fees from this prime Makati lot's former lessee—Sunvar Realty Development Corp. (SRDC)—for 14 years prior to PMO's takeover in 2017 owing to the then-pending legal case over the property.

The property was previously leased to Sunvar Realty Development Corp. owned by the Prieto-Rufino clan.

According to the government, Sunvar occupied the property on February 28, 1982.

The lease agreement expired on December 31, 2002 but Sunvar continued to remain in possession of the property and collect rent payments from its tenants.

Solicitor General Jose Calida once called Sunvar the "Philippine Daily Squatter," a play on the name of its sister company Philippine Daily Inquirer, a broadsheet perceived to be critical of Duterte and his policies.

In August 2017, the government won a case against Sunvar, forcing the latter and its tenants to vacate the property. — MDM, GMA News