Baguio civic leader prods CJHDevco on arrears

MANILA, Philippines - The continued failure of the Camp John Hay Development Corp. (CJHDevco) to pay its arrears with the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) is depriving Baguio City of much-needed funds to maintain, if not develop, its tourist sites, and reinvigorate the city’s tourism industry, a civic leader said.

Gil Bautista, chairman of the Baguio Heritage Foundation, said the ballooning arrears of the CJHDevco, if paid, would give Baguio City a windfall of an estimated P750 million, that would be helpful in rehabilitating and redeveloping famous tourist spots such as the Burnham Park and Mines View Park, among other places.

Bautista said the unpaid obligations of CJHDevco were primarily to blame for the city government’s financial difficulties, as it pursued its bid to take possession and ownership of the Baguio Convention Center, in the hope to develop the center as another tourist center of the city.