Outgoing Department of Finance (DOF)  secretary Carlos Dominguez III agreed with a legislator’s proposal to privatise and close the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to raise much needed government revenue and pay for government incurred debts brought by COVID19 lockdown measures.

When asked if the selling of NAIA is a possibility to raise government funds, Dominguez answered: “That is a definite possibility. Actually we have thought about that since 2016. But we have to see first how the development of the alternative to NAIA.” 

According to the Bureau of Treasury, the government needs at least P249 billion in incremental revenues every year to wean the bureaucracy from more borrowing to pay for the debt bill that has summed up to P3.2 trillion.

“What do we really have for privatization? We have a couple of mines, but we don’t have the big assets. We have some pieces of property,” says Dominguez.

The incoming Marcos administration may consider closing NAIA, president-elect Marcos Jr has yet to say his opinion on the subject.

Meanwhile, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) tasked with disposing of ill-gotten wealth of the late president Ferdinand Marcos had been unable to sell any of the assets since 2020. PCGG Chair John Agbayani said that the agency will dispose of P1.2 billion worth of Marcos’ stolen recovered assets this month

From 1990 to 2020, the PCGG raised a total of P120.5 billion in additional revenues from the sale of Marcos-related ill-gotten wealth. Still not enough to pay for P3.2 trillion debt.