BCDA policy on Camp John Hay issue hit

MANILA, Philippines - The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) should blame itself for losing the legal battle over the Camp John Hay in Baguio City, the camp’s private developer said yesterday.

The Camp John Hay Development Co. (CJHDevCo) alleged that BCDA chairman Arnel Casanova has been pursuing policies disadvantageous to the government, which resulted not only in financial losses, but also eroded the economic gains of the Aquino administration.

“More than the P5 billion in foregone revenues and other losses that the government has been incurring, BCDA stands to lose much more, with the arbitral and appellate rulings that made the state agency liable for its role in the Camp John Hay mess,” CJHDevCo executive vice president Alfredo Yñiguez III told reporters in Manila.

Yñiguez  said Casanova mishandled the Camp John Hay issue, when it refused to answer CJHDevCo’s letters seeking for a settlement agreement.

He said the rejection of the settlement agreement deprived Baguio City of its 25-percent share in rental fees.

CJHDevCo chairman Robert John Sobrepeña said had the BCDA accepted the offer, they would have paid the state agency P3.3 billion over a 10-year period and P150 million in yearly rentals until 2046.

Sobrepeña said BCDA’s refusal resulted in a decision by the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center Inc. ordering the state agency to refund CJHDevCo P1.42 billion in back rentals paid since 1996.

Yñiguez also slammed Casanova for questioning a recent ruling of the Court of Appeals preventing the eviction of more than 1,600 third party investors and the private developer from the 247-hectare former American recreational facility.