For crying out loud, if there's any government property that is dying to be sold, it's Calauit.

Okay, so here we have an island of exotic African animals, created during one of those mega-fanciful moments of the Marcos regime. More than two decades later, the giraffes, zebras, elands and what-have-you are on the road to slow destruction by inbreeding, if not dying right there. A decrepit operation.  As it is, public money is tight and the upkeep of the place is not on top priority and neither, last heard, are the salaries of the sanctuary staff.

So the question is economic. And my answer is SELL. Privatize. Every administration since Marcos has gone on baratilyo selling binges to generate moolah. Practically all the big-ticket items have been sold (think Amari, Manila Hotel, Fort Bonifacio, Petron, PNB, etc.) with the attendant scandals, of course, but no one goes to jail anyway. The Calauit deal, if it materializes, might generate a tidy sum for the always cash-strapped government, less the usual commissions. It is a perfect ecotourism area. A very good buy for those with foresight and money. Otherwise, we just let things be and wait for Calauit to be overrun by the teeming squatters. Kaya , utang na loob, dali, ibenta na ang Calauit! Do-gooder NGOs, if they do pop out of the woodwork, are welcome to tender their bids. Protests from this sector against the island's privatization will be likely deemed as gratuitous publicity stunts of the johnny-come-lately kind.