PSALM postpones redevelopment of Quezon City property 

State-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) is deferring a plan to transform its prime Quezon City property into a mixed-use development until its corporate life is extended, according to a report by Philippine Star.

PSALM president and CEO Irene Joy Besido-Garcia said the redevelopment of the government owned property in Diliman, Quezon City was a long-term plan to bump up the state-run firm’s revenues and this would require the extension of its corporate life.

“There is a go signal from the Department of Finance to proceed with the development of the Diliman property. However, there are some issues we need to resolve such as the extension of life of PSALM. As you know, PSALM ‘s corporate life is only up to June 2026,” she said.

The PSALM official said there is already a House bill that seeks to extend PSALM’s corporate life.

“That would have to go through a process of passing a law so that the provision in EPIRA (Electric Power Industry Reform Act) on the expiry of PSALM’s life could be extended,” Besido-Garcia said.

House bills proposing the extension of PSALM’s corporate life has been pending since 2013.

The EPIRA created the PSALM to undertake the restructuring of the country’s power sector within 25 years or until 2026, unless extended by law.

PSALM is mandated to sell all existing state-owned generating power plants, including transmission, real estate properties, independent power producers contracts, and all other disposable assets such as real estate, and handle the financial obligations of the National Power Corp.

With less than five years left, the state-run agency still has to sell the remaining Napocor power plants that include the 728-MW hydroelectric power plants (HEPP) in Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan; the 140-MW Casecnan HEPP; the 1,000-MW Agus-Pulangi HEPP; and the 200-MW Mindanao coal-fired power plant.

PSALM has real estate assets with an aggregated land area of 100.44 million square meters (sqm), consisting of 6,160 lots located in various parts of the country. Of the total, 60 percent is in Luzon, 39 percent in Mindanao and the remaining one percent in the Visayas.

It engaged the services of Isla Lipana to conduct a feasibility study to determine the most optimal structure for the privatization of the Diliman property.

However, the study completed in 2020 required some revisions as the pandemic changed the landscape of the country’s real estate industry, Besido-Garcia said.

“The pandemic had caused a lot of changes in real estate development and because of this we had to do some adjustments on the assumptions of the study. They jrecently completed the feasibility study which they presented to DOF,” she said.