MANILA, Philippines - The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is considering moving out to a new home in Clark Field in Pampanga or Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija if its present headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City is privatized.

AFP spokesman Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta yesterday revealed the relocation plan is the first option being considered by the top brass in line with the planned privatization of government properties.

“We are open to relocation and are now looking at Clark or at Fort Magsaysay,” Mabanta said.

Another option, Mabanta said, is maintaining a portion of the 174 hectares at Camp Aguinaldo to house the main military headquarters and three major service commands.

Apart from Camp Aguinaldo, the lot where the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters is located in Camp Crame is also being eyed for privatization, and could generate substantial revenues to modernize the police.

Aside from the two prime lots, the Philippine Army and the Philippine Navy are also setting aside parcels of land in their headquarters at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City for privatization, Mabanta added.

“But this is just preliminary planning. The decision still depends on the national leadership,” he said.

Mabanta also maintained the Camp Aguinaldo lot belongs to the government, denying some claims that it belongs to the Ortigas family that donated the lot to the government on the condition that it would not be sold.

“There is a portion of the lot (at Camp Aguinaldo) allocated for the Ortigas (family) but it’s not (yet) titled,” he said.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima on Friday said the administration is planning to privatize the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame and Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City in the effort to generate funds to pump prime the economy and modernize the military and police.

Both camps are in prime locations in Quezon City and could bring the government significant revenues if it could find viable buyers.

“Do we need these camps in the city? I’ve had discussions with Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, and they’re all very supportive of the fact that Camps Aguinaldo and Crame should probably not be there,” he said.

Purisima said these are among the various assets the government has to offer in its Public-Private Partnership Program that seeks to entice local and foreign investors to come in.

“They (camps) should probably be re-developed in order to build a better and bigger site of a consolidated military facility, and have funds to modernize the Armed Forces. All these discussions are going on right now and are in the preliminary stages,” Purisima said.

Purisima stressed the plan is to dispose of the other assets of the government in order to generate more funds.

“There are so many assets of the government, the DOH (Department of Health) has 40 hectares in the middle of Cebu. The government has a lot of assets. That’s something I realized, we’ve been talking to each of the departments,” he said.

Other properties include the 343-hectare lot at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City, the 26,000-hectare Iwahig Penal Colony and the Davao Penal Colony.

“There are so many properties, what we need to do is get together with all the departments and make an inventory of this and see how we can re-deploy these properties so that they are put to their best use,” Purisima said.

“The best use may not be having government right there, in which case, with the private sector, privatize it, use the proceeds to develop the property for best use so we have a win-win scenario,” he added.

Malacañang said, however, that all stakeholders would be consulted with regards to the government’s plan to privatize Camp Aguinaldo and Camp Crame.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said Purisima had stressed the plan was only in the preliminary stages, as was confirmed by Gazmin.

“It’s one of those things that is still on the drawing board. There are really no specifics yet,” Valte said.

Valte said President Aquino mentioned the plan during his State of the Nation Address.

She said the President mentioned some investors interested in buying military properties that included the lots of the Philippine Navy in Manila and the Philippine Army in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

Valte said the plan was meant to raise funds for the modernization of the AFP.

“So at this point we’d like to stress that talks are preliminary and all stakeholders will be consulted moving forward,” Valte said.

Valte said there was no reason for the troops or the police to be worried because only portions of their headquarters would be considered for privatization.

Sen. Francis Escudero, on the other hand, warned Malacañang against issuing statements on privatization of government properties.

Escudero, chairman of the Senate committee on national defense and security, said the government should provide a clear plan on how to go about the sale of its assets.

“The government should go slow with respect to pronouncements on the sale of camps or other government assets absent a clear roadmap, timetable and guidelines as to how to go about it so as to avoid any uncertainty with respect to our men in uniform,” Escudero said.

Escudero said the government should also consider how the sale would affect all of the stakeholders, including the members of the police and military.

Escudero said the efforts to generate revenues through privatization of assets should always consider that the “audience is not only the prospective bidders but those who would also be affected or displaced thereby.” –With Aurea Calica, Marvin Sy