BY CHINO S. LEYCO Reporter

THE Department of Finance (DOF) has moved anew the bidding for the lease of its posh real estate property at the Fujimi district in Tokyo, Japan.

Based on a document from the Bids and Awards Committee for the Philippine Government Properties in Japan, the signing of the service development contract between the Philippines and the winning bidder was moved from February 23 to March 9.

A DOF official said there are six interested bidders for the 50-year lease and development contract for the Fujimi property.

Interested groups must submit terms of reference and pre-qualification documents by February 15, and three-days after that, the bids and awards committee will inform them whether they prequalified or not.

By February 22, all qualified bidders will have to submit their technical and financial bids.

The property, located in upscale Fujimi Cho, Chiyoda-Ku, is the residence of the Philippine ambassador.

The government has considered a negotiated contract for the prime real estate after it failed to auction it off on December 2 last year.

The DOF said offers from three Japanese companies failed to meet the bids and awards committee’s requirements.

The department had said that it postponed the bidding process for the Fujimi property because of technicalities and not because a group of cultural workers asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the planned lease.

Finance Undersecretary Estela Sales, who is also chairman of the bids and awards committee, had said the government would push through with the privatization despite opposition from the artists and the Save Fujimi Property International Network.

The group composed of Filipinos and Japanese in Tokyo is protesting the plan, saying the Philippines must “preserve the shared cultural and historical rights” of both nations.

The DOF expects to raise between P3 billion and P5 billion for the property’s lease.

The property was purchased for the country by then President Jose Laurel from Baron Zenjiro Yasuda while the Philippines was under Japanese Occupation during World War II.