PSALM sells Bauang property to La Union govt for P524M

By Lenie Lectura – August 26, 2019
from Business Mirror

THE Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) has sold its Bauang property to the Provincial Government of La Union (PGLU) for P524 million.

The state firm said it successfully achieved another milestone in its privatization efforts as it concludes the sale of parcels of land underlying the Bauang Diesel Power Plant.

The Bauang property is located at Payopoc Sur, Bauang, La Union, and has an aggregate area of 261,349.32 square meters.

The property, sold on an “as-is-where-is” basis, was purchased by PGLU for P524,211,660 by way of a government-to-government transaction following PSALM’s policies on transfer of real-estate assets.

“This undertaking is a mutually beneficial activity for PSALM and the Provincial Government of La Union. On the part of the Provincial Government, it will be able to now pursue their provincial development goals and plans relative to this valuable piece of property.

“For PSALM, the sale of the property will help us raise much needed revenues to settle our financial obligations assumed from the National Power Corp.,” PSALM President and CEO Irene Joy Besido-Garcia said.

PSALM officially transferred ownership of the asset consisting of 92 lots to PGLU through the signing of the Deed of Transfer on August 14.

PSALM is the agency mandated by Republic Act 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) of 2001 to handle the sale of the remaining state-power assets and the financial obligations of National Power Corp.

It is projected that with PSALM’s continuous privatization efforts including the sale of real-estate assets, collection of universal charge and power generation proceeds, its financial obligations will further decrease substantially when the corporate life of PSALM ends in 2026.