PSALM announces sale of Laoag City site, sets P70.6-M minimum bid

POWER Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) is selling a property in Ilocos Norte where a diesel-fired power plant used to stand, as the agency continues to look for ways to monetize idle assets.

In a statement on Friday, the company tasked by law to privatize the government’s energy assets announced the sale through public bidding of the Laoag City property with a total area of 3,530 square meters at a minimum bid price of P70.6 million.

It set the bid submission deadline at 12:00 noon of Sept. 5, at its office in North Ave., Quezon City.

“Due diligence activities may be conducted by interested bidders starting 08 August 2019 until two days before bid submission deadline,” it said.

It has scheduled the pre-bid conference for Aug. 22, 2019 to allow prospective bidders to raise their inquiries on the technical aspects of the sale.

Earlier this month, PSALM announced a new deadline for bidding on its real estate assets in Barangay Aplaya, Jasaan, Misamis Oriental and Toledo City, Cebu.

The new bidding schedule is 12:00 noon on Sept. 5. The company said the postponement was to allows interested bidders additional time to conduct their own due diligence activities.

The sale of the two land assets is on an “as is, where is” basis. The properties used to be the location of the dismantled Aplaya diesel power plant and the Cebu diesel power plant but are now either at ground zero or with minimal structures left.

“Proceeds from the privatization of PSALM’s real estate assets will be utilized to augment funds to pay off its assumed financial obligations,” it said.

The asset in Misamis Oriental consists of 49 lots with a total area of about 155,504.00 square meters. The asset in Toledo City consists of 21 lots with a total area of about 129,589.00 square meters. PSALM set the minimum bid prices at P567,626,950 and P171,473,500, respectively. — Victor V. Saulon