Pnoy should maximize prime properties instead of selling them

So now the government thru Finance secretary Cesar Purisima has announced the possible sale of government real estate properties. It seems that the government is trying to raise funds from other sources since it can't plug the leaks from the Bureaus of Customs and Internal Revenue. Early on, the Aquino administration declared that the best way to eradicate poverty is thru the elimination of graft and corruption. Now, it's thru the sale of government properties.


Nothing wrong, perfectly legal to sell prime government properties, especially in a "boom economy" such as we are having now. Teka...


Seems suspicious really why government would sell its properties when it already declared that the economy is on the "up and up", and investments are pouring in. Are'nt we supposed to even protect these prime properties from private hands since we're already on the way up?


I remember one story in the bible. Joseph, son of Isaac, was then the prime minister of Egypt. There was a famine. Farmers were going hungry. What Joseph did to solve the impending scourge of poverty? He asked farmers to sell their lands to the government, in exchange for food. They did. And hunger was abated. 


This policy of the Aquino government runs counter with Joseph's story. There's hunger in the Philippines and the best solution for government is generate funds thru sale. 


It seems that government has a warped understanding of public-private initiative. I think what government wants to do is sell its properties to private companies and let them develop those lands for private uses. Wrong.


A public-private initiative is something synergistic--with all parties benefitting from the partnership in the long-term. Selling prime real estate is not a long-term benefit. Fact is, it is a sellout, and favors big business.


The Chinese government, for example, is the biggest real estate owner in China. It has so many assets that it uses for the benefit of its people. 


Here, government admits that it has numerous assets, and how best to maximize its use? Sell it, that's the idea. Stupid.


Instead of selling these prime government properties, why not enter into a partnership with private businesses, and operate these properties in a joint venture agreement, with government retaining ownership of these lands?