BCDA sues John Hay lessee for squatting

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – Officers of two Sobrepeña-led companies, Camp John Hay Development Corp. (CJHDevco) and Warbird Security and Investigation Agency (Warbird) are facing criminal charges for building illegal structures on government property in Camp John Hay.

The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) filed a criminal case at the Department of Justice against top officials and personnel of the Camp John Hay lessee and its security agency for violating Section 27 of the Urban Development Housing Act of 1992.

Cited as respondents in the criminal case were CJHDevco and Warbird, both owned by the Sobrepeña Group. Officials of the two firms who were included as respondents to the complaint were Robert John Sobrepeña, CJHDevco chairman and Warbird vice chairman; Ferdinand Santos, CJHDevco president and Warbird director; and Enrique Sobrepeña Jr., CJHDevco director and Warbird treasurer.

Also cited as respondents were CJHDevco chief operating officer Alfredo Yniguez, Warbird president and chief operating officer Jose Montoya, chairman Edwardo Matillano, regional head Alberto Escalderon, K9 housing supervisor Bersamen Ducusin, and guard supervisor Francisco Velasco, and other unidentified personnel.

BCDA said the group of Sobrepeña illegally occupied some 600 square meters of prime land within the John Hay Special Economic Zone (JHSEZ) by illegally constructing three structures near the Sewerage Treatment Plant 6 without consent from the land owner, in this case, BCDA. Three structures were used to house Warbird’s security guards and families, while a fourth structure was used as kennel for its canine unit and farm house for its roosters.

“This is professional squatting,” said Arnel Paciano Casanova, BCDA president and chief executive, pointing out that “the Sobrepeña group has unlawfully erected structures on BCDA property despite the fact that it has substantial income and can afford to provide legitimate housing for its employees.”

Casanova said he has ordered CJHDevco and Warbird to immediately dismantle and demolish all of its illegally-constructed structures within Camp John Hay, but his directive remained unheeded, prompting the BCDA to take action by sending its own security personnel to effect the demolition.

“People who should be enforcing the law and order inside the JHSEZ are themselves violating the law while reaping the benefits of operating inside the economic zone,” Casanova said, adding “it was only after we have sent our own security that CJHDevco and Warbird were constrained to demolish the illegal structures, together with BCDA and JHMC security guards.”

According to the BCDA chief, CJHDevco and Warbird have committed the crime of professional squatting as defined by the Urban Development and Housing Authority (UDHA) since they occupied government property without the consent of the land owner (BCDA), and yet the company has enough income to provide legitimate housing for their guards and K9 units.