In Baguio, halt to demolitions in military lands nixed

BAGUIO CITY—The local government needs to be prepared to relocate families that have been or will soon be displaced by demolitions that are being undertaken inside the city’s military reservations, the city council said on Monday.

During its regular session this week, the council tackled the state of Baguio’s resettlement program given the “aggressive demolitions” of untitled properties that have taken place within the 14.3-hectare Camp Henry T. Allen, the 29-ha Navy Base at Barangay Saint Joseph and the 373-ha Fort del Pilar, the campus of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA).

These military properties are under the custody of the PMA, which informed the council in November last year that it was instructed to take illegal occupants to court to seek their eviction.

Councilor Peter Fianza, a former city administrator, asked the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) to help explore Baguio areas that could be suited for socialized housing, including government reservations that no longer serve their purpose. More than half of Baguio territory have been turned into civic, military or forest reservations.

The city has only two housing projects currently in the pipeline and may not accommodate all families who might be expelled from military reservations.

During its Jan. 22 session, the council passed a resolution seeking a three-month moratorium on all demolitions, particularly inside military properties, to give the city time to determine where to relocate affected families and to address its legal and historical implications, said Vice Mayor Faustino Olowan.

But the resolution was returned unsigned by Mayor Benjamin Magalong, who informed the council in a letter that the Department of National Defense “intends to consolidate all of its assets for active utilization,” according to Councilor Leandro Yangot, chair of the committee on lands.

Segregation

Among the PMA’s targeted households are relatives or heirs of retired soldiers.

At Camp Allen, where the PMA was once located, occupants of a building serving Baguio’s surviving World War II veterans also faced eviction because the structure was supposed to be put up in another section of the reservation.

One option for the city is to ask President Marcos to segregate occupied sections of military reservations because these are part of existing barangays.

Baguio is dealing with a similar problem at Camp John Hay, a former American rest-and-recreation base land under the control of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) where 14 barangays thrive.

Only the households in Barangay Scout Barrio were released from Camp John Hay jurisdiction with their own titles but public properties remain under BCDA custody, so the city government is also studying full segregation proceedings for all Camp John Hay barangays.

But the consent of the reservation’s administrator is required for a segregation process to begin, said Hennylou Cacas, who represented DHSUD Cordillera director Antonette Anaban at the council session.

The PMA had rejected previous attempts to segregate Navy Base occupants, she said.

Resettlement

However, the PMA has begun exploring a potential resettlement program with the DHSUD, and may initiate a census and “tagging” of reservation occupants, Cacas said on Monday.

Since 2021, the city government has been developing a 1.8-ha social housing project called the Luna Terraces, which would be composed of eight to 10 buildings that have their own parks, open spaces and a common food production area, which also makes it a “permaculture project.”

It would benefit 15,000 families and would cost P326 million to be funded through a DHSUD loan.

The other socialized housing project would be located in the neighboring Tuba town in Benguet. The Baguio government had purchased a 6-ha private lot at Topinao in the town’s Barangay Poblacion for a socialized housing project with DHSUD that could benefit 5,000 families.

Assistant City Planning and Sustainability Officer Elias Aoanan said a socialized housing developer had submitted an unsolicited proposal to develop the project, but Councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda said that could make units less affordable for the poor.

The council also asked building officials to review its policy on structures that have no building permits. In many cases, residents apply for building permits but are unable to proceed because they do not have land titles.

Presidential Decree No. 1096 (the National Building Code) was not intended to be punitive, said Councilor Jose Molintas, a lawyer.

“In fact, the code does not penalize offenses with imprisonment, only fines,” he said. “Instead of threatening people, building officials should extend assistance to legalize homes with no permits.”