DoF hands off on Port Area claim of GSIS
Credit to Author: MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO, TMT| Date: Fri, 07 Jun 2019 16:20:38 +0000
THE Department of Finance (DoF) will not meddle in the Government Service Insurance System’s (GSIS) claim to a piece of property in Manila’s Port Area that is being occupied by the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI), a senior official said.
“I think it’s [GSIS claim] a matter for [the] DoTr (Department of Transportation), not us,” Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko told reporters on Friday after being asked on the matter.
While GSIS is under the supervision of the Governance Commission for GOCCs (government-owned and -controlled corporations) — of which one ex-officio member is the Finance department through Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd — it must be noted that ICTSI is regulated by the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA). an attached agency of the DoTr.
“I think they (DoTr) are discussing that, because [of the] PPA claims and GSIS claims. It’s theirs, so it’s something that must be resolved,” Tionko said.
Earlier this week, GSIS claimed ownership of a piece of real estate near Pier 2 of the Manila North Harbor and the Negros Navigation Ferry Terminal in Tondo, which consists of two lots with land areas of 672,645 and 109,212 square meters.
GSIS President and General Manager Jesus Clint Aranas said then the property was a nonperforming asset of the state pension fund because it had not been generating any income since the early 1970s, even though the Razon-led port operator currently occupies it.
With this, he announced the revival of the plan to sell the property, which has a total zonal value of more than P37 billion.
The sale, he said, will happen this year once the GSIS board approves the plan.
Since then, reports have quoted ICTSI as saying that GSIS has no right to claim ownership, because the pension fund was only given a title for land reclamation through a 1975 decreethat was later repealed by another decree giving the PPA the responsibility to develop the area.
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