A MALAYSIAN property developer has emerged as the first entity to take a bite into the offer of President Benigno Aquino III to lease and develop the Philippine Navy's properties.
Rear Admiral Danilo Cortez told reporters after a budget hearing in the Senate that Malaysia Resources Corp. Berhad (MRCB) has formalized its offer for the 22-hectare Fort Bonifacio Naval station which it planned to convert into a mixed use, commercial, office and residential project. The property includes a golf course, a hospital, housing units for the soldiers and officers and the headquarters of the Philippine Marines.
Cortez said the MRCB submitted its letter proposal dated Sept. 10 this year to Aquino who has ordered the Department of National Defense to evaluate the unsolicited proposal from Malaysia.
"It's still in the evaluation stage, there are still a lot of requirements. We will bid it out in one year," said Cortez who noted that the naval station property along Roxas Boulevard was a separate deal.
In his State of the Nation Address, Aquino bared his administration's thrust toward public-partnership projects for major capital projects including the monetization of military assets to bankroll the modernization of the Armed Forces Aquino hoped to raise at least $100 million from the 5O-year lease of the military assets. "We are offering all our assets to maximize their potential," said Cortez.
Cortez said that while the military ngets lease offers for its properties, it has already started the relocation of its major service units to the AFP general headquarters in Camp Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
