Trees root of fund conflict in Camp John Hay
BAGUIO CITY, Philippines—Government indecision on the cutting of pine trees at Camp John Hay is apparently at the core of the debt settlement feud between the tourist estate developer and the agency running former American military bases, which has reached local courts.
The fate of more than 1,000 pine trees, facing displacement in a span of five years to make way for hotels and other buildings, depends on an exemption from the log ban, said Zaldy Masarate, the assistant vice president and head of project developments of the Fil-Estate-owned Camp John Hay Development Corp. (CJHDevco).
But the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) or its subsidiary firm, the John Hay Management Corp (JHMC), has not applied for Camp John Hay’s exemption from Executive Order No. 23, which sets a logging moratorium that covers even forest management areas, Masarate said. The log ban took effect on Feb. 1, 2011.
Because the trees stand in the way of projects from where CJHDevco could generate revenues and continue paying rent, the firm had decided to seek arbitration, said Alfredo Yniguez III, the CJHDevco executive vice president and chief operating officer.
CJHDevco had suspended rent payments in 2009 after signing a 2008 restructured lease agreement, allegedly due to government breaches of the contract, among them the failure to issue development permits, including tree cutting permits.
The pine tree problem was one of the last issues addressed in negotiations between CJHDevco and JHMC before talks broke down last year.
BCDA issued CJHDevco demand letters for P3.024 billion in arrears, prompting the developer to rescind the restructured lease contract and to seek arbitration.
Last week, CJHDevco secured a temporary restraining order that prevented government from forcibly taking over the 247-hectare leased area.
“[Cutting these pine trees] had been incorporated in the master development plan,” Masarate said on Wednesday.
The proposed displacement of pine trees in Camp John Hay drew outrage last week when a Jan. 30 letter to Jamie Eloise Agbayani, the JHMC president, from Alberto Banatao, the JHMC environment officer, was leaked through social networking sites.
The letter itemized the trees that have to give way to the construction of luxury homes.
Agbayani said the government has taken pains to protect Camp John Hay’s forest cover, which remains the largest cluster of forest in the summer capital. Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon
