Amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the government has turned to the sale of artworks and "hot" cars to raise additional public revenues.

The state-run Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC), for instance, raised P23.2 million from the 1,057 artworks it sold virtually last month. These were owned by the banks, which PDIC had closed down and liquidated.

PDIC said in a statement on Monday that the actual auction proceeds were 527-percent bigger than the estimated P3.7-million total disposal price.

PDIC had partnered with Leon Gallery Fine Art and Antiques for the first-of-its-kind virtual auction on behalf of a government agency held on Dec. 11, 2021.

"Auctioned art collections consisted of nonmuseum grade paintings and suited for private collection, and other artworks such as wooden furniture, religious sculptures, ceramic works, carvings, tapestry and other artworks," PDIC said.

The additional revenues PDIC raised will primarily be injected into shuttered banks' trust funds. "Successful auctions and disposal initiatives will benefit the creditors of closed banks by increasing the chances to recover their trapped funds in closed banks."

"The settlement of creditors' claims is also seen to benefit the country by way of plowing back the funds to the economy through savings, capital and investments," PDIC added.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Tuesday announced the re-offer of five confiscated luxury vehicles—worth a total of at least P29 million—on Jan. 24.

To recall, the BOC failed to sell the following cars during the first auction on Dec. 13, 2021: a 2008 Ferrari Scuderia 430, with a floor price of P23.2 million; a 2001 Porsche Boxster (worth at least P1.79 million); and the three Mercedes Benz units 2011 E220 (at least P1.5 million), 2001 SLK55 (P1.3 million), and 2001 SLK350 (P1.2 million). These five smuggled vehicles were seized by the BOC in May and June of last year.

Similar to the previous auction, the second bidding will be conducted at the Bureau of the Treasury office in Manila through "hybrid" bid submission. Bidders will only be allowed at the Ayuntamiento de Manila building if tested negative for COVID-19. Wearing of face masks and shields as well as physical distancing will be mandatory.

Last month, Customs Assistant Commissioner Vincent Philip Maronilla said that in case re-bidding again fails, the BOC's rules allowed direct negotiations with interested parties.

Maronilla had said they expected to raise up to P50 million from the five cars.

Instead of destroying confiscated vehicles as done in the past to supposedly show that the government was serious in fighting smuggling, the BOC this time used the Treasury's modern auction room—where the government sold T-bills and bonds weekly—to eke out funds for the COVID-19 war chest.

Maronilla had disclosed that it was the BOC itself that proposed this change in tack, first to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, who oversaw the country's second-biggest tax-collection agency. The BOC's proposal eventually reached President Duterte.

According to Maronilla, their "bosses"—Dominguez and the President—saw the propriety of selling seized cars instead of destroying them. "This time around, because of the pandemic, we adjusted to what the government needed." INQ