BCDA mulls developing idle military lots

The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) aims to come up with a master plan on the development of idle military lots this year to spur economic activity and create jobs.

BCDA President Arnel Casanova said on Tuesday that the development would cover a total of 130,000 hectares of military camps nationwide.

“You have to come up with comprehensive base development plan so we need to master plan all the military camps and ask our armed forces which camps do they still need, they want to retain, and which camps they want to let go or develop for additional revenue generation,” he said in a press conference.

“We hope to finish that (master plan) within the year,” he added.

The revenue to be generated from the development of the camps would help bankroll the military’s upgrade efforts, Casanova said.

Among the properties that could generate funds for the armed forces are parts of the 70,000-hectare Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, the 33,000-hectare Camp Peralta in Capiz, the 42,000-hectare Camp Kibaritan in Bukidnon, the 1,925 hectare-Camp O’Donnell in Tarlac, the 960-hectare San Miguel naval station in Zambales and the 176-hectare Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

Casanova said they would build new structures for military units to be affected by the development activities.

Meanwhile, the BCDA reported that it has generated P56.63-billion in disposition proceeds from May 1993 to December 2012

The biggest revenue sources were Fort Bonifacio in Taguig and Villamor Airbase in Pasay.

Of the generated P56.63-billion, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) got P23.43 billion.

The amount was divided as follows: P12.29-billion for the military’s modernization program, P9.5-billion for replication of military facilities affected by development plans and P1.65-billion for the National Treasury for the armed forces’ modernization program next month.

The rest of the BCDA revenues went to other state agencies, taxes and fees elation to the disposition and replication of non-military facilities, share of municipalities and direct expenses involved in relocating informal occupants, and administrative costs.

For 2012 alone, BCDA raised P3.31-billion worth of disposition proceeds, higher than the P1.46-billion generated in 2011.

Casanova attributed the increase to their “prudent financial management and more efficient collection efforts.”

“We expect that the amount will grow bigger as we continue to optimize the value of BCDA assets and improve our collection efficiency,” he said.

For this year, the BCDA expects to generate at least P2-billion from its disposition efforts. Casanova, however, said this could increase to about P5 billion if they secure a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court on the bidding of a 33.1-hectare property in Bonifacio South Pointe.

Early this month, SM Land Inc. secured a temporary restraining order from the high court that stopped the bidding of the property. The BCDA has asked the court to lift the restraining order and allow it to proceed with the bidding, which could contribute P3.6 billion to military coffers.