Five property developers have been pre-qualified to bid for the government’s 54-hectare airport property in Mandurriao, Iloilo City, the Department of Finance (DOF) announced yesterday. 

Finance Undersecretary John Philip Sevilla said the committee on privatization has pre-qualified Ayala Land Inc., Empire East Holdings Inc., Robinsons Land Corp., Rockwell Land Corp., and SM Prime Holdings Inc. The final bid date for the sale of the former Iloilo airport has been set on April 24, 2007.

‘We are very pleased with the interest in the Iloilo airport property and look forward to a successful bid on April 24,’ Sevilla said.  According to Sevilla, the property would become vacant in late-April, when the new Iloilo airport finally opens. 

The inter-agency group overseeing the sale of the property is headed by the DOF, with representatives from the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), DOTC-Air Transportation Office, Department of Justice, and Department of Budget and Management. 

According to Sevilla, who is also head of the inter-agency Privatization Council, the Iloilo property would be sold as an institutional property and it would be up to the winning bidder to have it rezoned. 

‘It would not make sense for us to rezone it before bidding it out because we do not know what the prospective buyer intends to do with it,’ Sevilla explained. 

Unlike the Makati property that used to be occupied by the International School and was obviously slated for commercial development, the site of the old Iloilo airport was located in the outskirts of the city and was large enough for mixed-use. 

Earlier, real estate broker CB Richard Ellis estimated the property’s value at P500 million to P2 billion.  The government had already earmarked part of the sale proceeds for partial payment of a P6.2-billion loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, which bankrolled the construction of the new Iloilo international airport in the Sta. Barbara-Cabanatuan area. 

Pre-qualified bidders are expected to post a bid bond of P150 million on the bid date and Sevilla said it would be up to the committee to decide whether it would disclose a floor price for the property.