Congress tackles amendments to BCDA law

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines—A House committee is discussing amendments to the Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992 to provide better protection to the interests of communities hosting former American military base lands, Baguio City Rep. Nicasio Aliping Jr. said.

Aliping, a committee member, said the 19 conditions set by the Baguio City government when it agreed to the creation of a John Hay Special Economic Zone (JHSEZ), have been included among the proposed changes to Republic Act No. 7227 (Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992).

The conditions are outlined by City Resolution No. 362, series of 1994.

The resolution grants Baguio a 25-percent share from rent collected at the JHSEZ, as well as provisions that give the city government some measure of authority over the zone, such as the power to issue permits.

The conditions protect Baguio’s interests but these benefits have been imperiled by an arbitration ruling that “extinguished” the 1996 Camp John Hay lease contract to end a dispute between the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and a company owned by businessman Robert John Sobrepeña, Aliping said.

The decision of an arbitration tribunal, formed by the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center Inc., was silent about the impact of a voided Camp John Hay contract on Baguio City. The decision was issued in February.

During a BCDA news conference last week, Councilor Richard Cariño said the city’s 19 conditions may be outdated and would need to be reviewed.

Some BCDA officials, who asked not to be identified due to lack of authority to speak on the issue, told the Inquirer that without a contract, Resolution No. 362 was no longer enforceable.

Melchor Rabanes, Baguio legal officer, has drawn up a legal strategy to assert Resolution No. 362, which Mayor Mauricio Domogan describes as a “contract between Baguio and BCDA.”

Domogan said the resolution served as consent to the establishment of JHSEZ, and did not apply to the lease contract of Sobrepeña’s Camp John Hay Development Corp.

Aliping said including the 19 conditions into an amended BCDA law is necessary because these conditions are the only protection Baguio has for endorsing Camp John Hay’s development.

For example, Condition No. 1 also requires the developer to “secure the building and other permits from the city’s building officials for the construction of vertical structures within the Zone.”

BCDA challenged this provision in court, but lost in a Regional Trial Court ruling.

Aliping said other host towns of former military bases have expressed the need for the “joint participatory governance” of these properties, which are administered solely by BCDA through its subsidiary companies.–Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon