Nov. 6--A GROUP of Filipinos and Japanese in Tokyo add to the number of people bucking the Philippine plan to lease out its Fujimi property, saying the Arroyo administration must "preserve the shared cultural and historical rights" of both nations. In a letter to the Philippine Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, members of Save Fujimi Property International Network said they are concerned about the historic building in the Japanese capital that would be torn down to give way to a planned 21-story structure.

Located in upscale Fujimi Cho, Chiyoda-Ku, the property serves as the official residence of Philippine ambassadors to Japan. In 1943, the Philippines bought the property, which has a 1952 dated marker from the Philippine National Historical Institute certifying that the structure was built during the Tokugawa Era.

The government plans to lease out the property in the fourth quarter of the year, the Department of Finance earlier said.

Finance Undersecretary Crisanta Legaspi had said the government would auction off the right to develop the remaining 4,360-square-meter Fujimi property under a five-year lease.

The Finance department earlier said that it had prequalified nine of the 22 interested bidders.

Legaspi said the privatization would help the government raise revenues to finance vital projects.

The government expects to earn P3 billion to P6 billion from the Fujimi property.

In the letter, Cesar Santoyo, the network's coordinator, said, "any decision related to the Fujimi property must be done with full public hearing, in the Philippines and Japan, backed up by thorough studies and with utmost transparency."

The group said they would intensify their protest action against the midnight sale by picketing in front of the Fujimi property. They also plan to get signatures in train stations around Tokyo, Saitama, Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka in support of their cause.

Philippine senators opposed to the Fujimi privatization want to scrutinize the planned sale of the property when their session resumes on November 9.

The government has managed to raise about P1 billion in revenues from its P30-billion privatization program this year. With barely three months before the end of the year, some groups have raised concerns about any midnight sale of state assets in so far as these items fail to command a premium among potential buyers.

The government has been selling all kinds of assets to make up for its deficiency in tax collections.

The Finance department expects to breach the government's P250-billion budget deficit ceiling by about P50 billion.

Besides the Fujimi property, the Finance department also lined up the sale of a 103-hectare slice of the Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) property in Taguig City, shares in Philippine National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC), and its 24-percent interest in San Miguel Corp. (SMC).

The government programmed proceeds of P13 billion from the FTI sale, P15 billion from the PNOC-EC share sale, and P50 billion from the disposal of SMC.

Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said the successful sale of the government's stake in SMC alone would give a comfortable margin that would keep the deficit blowout to a manageable level.

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