THREE Japanese companies are on the shortlist of firms vying for a 50-year lease of a Philippine government property in a posh district of Tokyo.

The Philippine government expects to earn at least P3 billion from the lease of the lot in Tokyo?s Fujimi district.

Finance Undersecretary Crisanta S. Legaspi said the deadline for the submission of bids had been reset to Dec. 3 from Nov. 16.

Legaspi said three groups were prequalified for the bidding, but she declined to name the companies, citing nondisclosure agreements.

The property in Fujimi district is one of three big-ticket items in the government?s privatization program this year.

With proceeds from the lease, Philippine officials hope to ease a swelling budget deficit, which has reached P266.1 billion as of end-October.

This year, the government is also working on the sale of a 103-hectare parcel at the Food Terminal Inc. complex in Taguig City, and its 40-percent stake in PNOC Exploration Co.

Finance Undersecretary Estela Sales explained that the bidding date was moved to encourage as many bidders as possible to participate, stressing that the Fujimi property transaction was a lease and not an outright sale.

Leasing is ?allowed under the law, and unless we are restrained by appropriate authorities, we will push through with the plan,? Sales said. ?Right now, there is no such restraint.?

She was reacting to protests against the auction, particularly from groups that want to keep the property untouched to preserve its cultural value.

A bone of contention is the ambassador?s residence. Critics claim that it may have to be torn down to give way to other structures the winning developer may want to put up on the site.

?This matter has been threshed out in the past, long before this [this scheduled auction],? Sales said. ?I guess [the argument against] it is rehashed.?

A network of Filipino and Japanese protesters has asked the Senate to stop the bidding process for the lease of the Fujimi property, saying that the proceeds may be lost through corruption.

In a Nov. 2 letter to Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who chairs the Senate?s foreign relations committee, the Save Fujimi Property International Network said the planned bidding ?is highly suspect given the coming presidential elections in May 2010.?

Also, the protesters demand that any major decision related to the property must be done with full public hearing?both in the Philippines and in Japan.

The 4,361.85 square-meter property of the Philippine government in Fumiji district is within the vicinity of the Imperial Palace, the prime minister?s residence and other institutions of the Japanese government.