Monet painting sale boosts gov't coffers in H1

A rare remittance from the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG)-reportedly proceeds from the sale of a Monet painting deemed as ill-gotten wealth by the family of strongman Ferdinand Marcos Sr.-has helped triple the Marcos Jr. administration's privatization revenues in the first half of 2025.

- BY BEN ARNOLD DE VERA

The latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), posted on its website last week, showed that privatization revenues surged to P1.266 billion in the first six months of the year, up from P411 million during the same period last year.

A closer look at the BTr data revealed that the PCGG-tasked with recovering and selling assets from Marcos Sr., his family, and cronies-made a P714-million remittance to the national treasury as proceeds from privatization in May.

Prior to May 2025, the PCGG had not received any privatization revenues since approximately 900,000 was remitted in May 2023 from the sale of a 300-square-meter (sqm) property in Calapan, Oriental Mindoro.