09 March 2004 - Reacting to some media reports that  there is disagreement within the Department of Foreign  Affairs on moves to maintain and maximize benefits  from government properties in Japan through a lease  arrangement, Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Domingo  Albert today said that “contrary to the claims of  certain sectors that appeared in some  newspapers, we  in the Department are one in supporting moves to which  would allow the government to maintain and develop our  properties while at the same time making these
properties work to the benefit of the government,  through lease arrangements.”  “Undersecretary Franklin  M. Ebdalin and Philippine Ambassador to Japan Domingo  L. Siazon share the position taken by Foreign Affairs  Secretary Delia Domingo Albert to maximize government  benefits from the government properties in Japan,” she  added.
 
An inter-agency committee tasked to handle the development of Philippine Government properties  located here and abroad was created in 1992 through  Administrative Order No. 8. On 31 May 2000, the  President constituted the Pre-qualification, Bids, and  Awards Committee (PBAC) for the development of  government properties in Japan. On 11 November 2002,  the PBAC was reconstituted by Memorandum Order No. 79  into the BAC for the Development of the Philippine  properties in Japan.

According to Undersecretary Ebdalin, “the government’s  decision to fully utilize government properties  abroad, including those in Japan, is not an ad-hoc  decision meant to address a short-term need. Rather,  it involves a process characterized by sound  deliberation and well-researched options contributed  by the members of the inter-agency committee.”  The  Undersecretary explained that “the fact that it took  the government a reasonable period of time from its  decision in 2000 to develop its properties abroad and  the decision it adopted now to consider a long-term  lease arrangement to develop the government properties  in Japan reflects a deliberate intent on the part of  the government to fully explore the options available  to it before adopting any specific arrangement. “

The Department of Foreign Affairs continues to believe  that a proper utilization of our government properties  abroad, including those in Japan, would allow  government to maximize the limited resources of  government by shifting the burden of developing  government properties abroad to qualified developers  and sharing in the benefits which would be derived in  their development, while continuing to hold the  ownership of these properties for the benefit of the succeeding Filipino generations.  At present, these  properties have become liabilities to the government,  requiring funding for its upkeep and maintenance but  otherwise remaining unused and undeveloped for lack of  capital. “I would like to emphasize that in all our  actions in connection with these properties, we will  retain ownership. Selling these properties was never a
 consideration,” the Secretary added. END.