Government raises P330 million from asset disposals in 2023

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) raised some P330 million from disposing assets of padlocked banks last year.

PDIC said it generated P330 million in total sales from 281 corporate and closed bank assets sold in 2023 as part of its asset disposal initiatives.

However, this was a 77 percent drop from the P1.46 billion sale in 2022 done via public biddings and negotiated sales.

Nonetheless, last year’s total sales were 10 percent higher from the sold properties’ aggregate minimum disposal price of P301.4 million.

Sold assets comprised 232 residential, 17 commercial and 31 agricultural lots, as well as one mixed residential and agricultural lot.

Two Makati Sports Club shares of the closed Export and Industry Bank were also sold for P2.9 million, above the disposal price of P1.9 million.

Of the total, 255 were owned by closed banks while 46 were acquired assets of the PDIC.

PDIC said most of the properties are located in South Cotabato and Central and South Luzon.

As the mandated liquidator, the PDIC sells closed bank-owned assets through public biddings and negotiated sales.

Proceeds of such transactions are added to the pool of liquid assets of the banks for distribution to uninsured depositors and other creditors subject to the rules on concurrence and preference of credits.

The disposal of these assets increases the chances of recovery of uninsured depositors and creditors of their trapped funds in the closed banks.

Meanwhile, proceeds from the sale of corporate assets are added to the Deposit Insurance Fund, PDIC’s main fund source for payment of valid deposit insurance claims.

Amid the challenges due to the pandemic, PDIC shifted to e-bidding of corporate and closed bank assets through its portal for a safe and convenient platform for interested buyers.

Through a one-time registration in the e-bidding portal, buyers can access and bid for real and other properties from the asset inventory of the PDIC and closed banks.