BAGUIO CITY—The 1,000 pine trees, which the developer of Camp John Hay proposed to displace in favor of new luxury homes and buildings, were not part of the original master plan approved by the government and the people of Baguio, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said on Friday.
Arnel Paciano Casanova, BCDA president, said the 1,033 pine trees enumerated in a tree-cutting or earth-balling application by the Fil Estate-owned Camp John Hay Development Corp. (CJHDevco) were discussed in a debt settlement negotiation last year.
He said the plan was part of the developer’s bid “to renegotiate the lease to settle its burgeoning P3 billion outstanding rent.”
BCDA and CJHDevco have been engaged in a protracted debt feud, which the developer had elevated last year before the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center.
The last in a series of negotiations broke down last year because CJHDevco insisted that BCDA approve the tree-cutting applications, Casanova said.
“We refused because only the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has the authority to issue tree-cutting and earth-balling permits,” Casanova said in a telephone interview.
In a Feb. 9 statement, Casanova discussed the same issue. He said: “When we did not give in to their demands, which may expose us to legal liabilities, they unilaterally rescinded the contract and are now claiming an atrocious amount of P14.4 billion from the government.” “We cannot be faulted for adhering to the rule of law. Gone are the days of impunity. We have a government now that stands for integrity and the rule of law, particularly laws that protect our environment,” he said.
Alfredo Yñiguez III, CJHDevco executive vice president and chief operating officer, said
BCDA was in breach of the John Hay lease agreement because it failed to provide the developer all permits needed to begin construction work on time, including tree-cutting permits.
The enforcement of a log ban through Executive Order No. 23 in February last year worsened the dispute because the government did not seek an exemption on behalf of all John Hay locators, said Zaldy Masarate, CJHDevco assistant vice president and head of project developments.
Last week, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje had asked CJHDevco for its master development plan before it would address any tree-cutting application in the area.
Casanova said BCDA complied with 19 conditions set by the Baguio government in 1994 in exchange for its endorsement of Camp John Hay’s privatization.
The first condition of City Resolution No. 362 series of 1994 established Baguio’s concern for the protection of John Hay’s forests, although it only obliged BCDA to make sure that projects there are “environmentally friendly” and are acceptable to the local government.
The same condition required BCDA to conduct an inventory of the pine trees located inside the 247-hectare leased area.
Based on the latest tree inventory of the leased area, the developer has custody of 120,656 trees, of which 115,591 are Benguet pine, said Masarate.
He said projects laid out in the master development plan are scrutinized by Baguio residents and environmental experts who compose a special monitoring team.
“We present them projects that require the relocation of pine trees because the company wants them to tell us what is an acceptable loss,” he said.
He said 385 pine trees, which were originally marked for cutting in the 1995 John Hay master development plan, were saved by this process. Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon