Lagman tells gov't: Sell military golf courses to augment funds vs. virus

Albay Representative Edcel Lagman on Sunday proposed to the government to consider selling some military golf courses to augment the funding for response measures against the coronavirus disease 2019.

"If President Rodrigo Duterte is looking for government assets to sell in order to help fund a stimulus package in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, he could start by auctioning off the golf courses in Camp Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, Villamor Air Base and the Veterans Memorial Medical Center," Lagman said in a statement.

According to Lagman, the three golf courses have a total land area of approximately 150 hectares whose sale could earn the government P150 billion.

The 18-hole Camp Aguinaldo golf course, for one, is part of the camp's 178.8-hectare land surrounded by EDSA, C-5, and high-scale subdivisions like White Plains, Corinthian Gardens, and Green Meadows, he said.

Meanwhile, the Villamor Golf Course covers 60 hectares of the Villamor Air Base which is adjacent to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and the Resorts World Complex just south of the Makati Central Business District, he added.

On the other hand, the Veterans Golf Course consists of 33 hectares of land inside the 55-hectare Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City, less than three kilometers from the Philippine Government Center, and 10 kilometers from Makati and Manila, Lagman said.

Lagman pointed out that  in the past, the government had sold golf courses.

He said that in 1992, the 240-hectare Fort Bonifacio was privatized including an 18-hole championship golf course. It was later sold for a reported price of P333.283.88 per square meter.

At the same time, the 25 hectares of Villamor Air Base was also later privatized, currently known as the Newport City, an urban integrated tourism resort complex, he added.

"RA 7227 mandates the Bases Conversion and Development Authority to convert part of military bases into alternative productive civilian use," Lagman said.

"There are many more hectares of military camps and other civilian government lands nationwide which could be tapped for privatization, including those owned by State Universities and Colleges which are not utilized or undeveloped," he added.

Duterte earlier said he would consider selling government assets if funds for the fight against COVID-19, and for the assistance to affected Filipinos run out.

"Pag maubos talaga ang pera, ipabili ko lahat ng propiyedad ng gobyerno. Iyang Cultural Center, PICC, yung lupa diyan. Totoo," Duterte said in a briefing aired at past midnight on Thursday.

"Kapag wala na akong makuha and we are about to sink, and really sink, I will sell all the assets of government tapos itulong ko sa tao," he added.

On the other hand, Lagman has proposed a P1-trillion stimulus package to enable the government to continue providing assistance to people and businesses affected by the ongoing COVID-19 emergency. —Erwin Colcol/LBG, GMA News