Endless Battle

The long-running battle between the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and Camp John Hay Development Corp which is also known as Camp John Hay in Baguio, led by businessman Robert John Sobrepeña  as he fights on and, from the looks of it, is nowhere near its end.

At stake is the control and possession of the 247-hectare section inside the former US military recreational facility in Baguio known as Camp John Hay. Sobrepeña’s group won the bid to develop the property in the 1990s, but stopped paying lease rentals to the government since 1998.

According to BCDA, the arrears of the Sobrepeña group have since ballooned to P3.4 billion (25 percent of which is supposed to go to the city government of Baguio).

To make a long story short, Sobrepeña—who is more popular for his forays into real estate (via Fil-Estate) and MRT says his CJH Development firm is not making enough money to pay rent to BCDA. The BCDA, meanwhile, thinks CJH is understating its earnings just to dodge payments. In any case, BCDA wants Sobrepeña out of John Hay, while the latter is holding on to it tight.

All this problems will further prolong the city’s wait for the payment of its uncollected share from the lease rental. BCDA and CJHdevCo’s botched negotiations for the payment of the rentals placed at f P3.024 billion resulted to the developer’s filing for the rescission of its Restructuring Memorandum of Agreement with BCDA signed in 2008 for BCDA’s alleged failure to deliver contractual obligations and demands.

 
 CJhDevCo has filed a petition for arbitration before the courts to mediate the issues. CJHDevCo also sued for protection against BCDA’s takeover and succeeded with the issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order by the Regional Trial Court.

Chief Executive Officer Arnel. Casanova debunked CJHDevCo’s move saying it was baseless as there was no attempt to take over the leased properties. “As far as the BCDA is concerned, there is no legal basis for a TRO which makes him look like he is misguided.

The city stands to receive 25 percent of the CJHDevCo arrears with the BCDA based on the lease agreement.The original agreement pegged the lease rental at P425 million annually for the first five years starting in 1996 and P150 million annually thereafter and the city’s share from the rental was supposed to be 25 percent or P106 million for the first five years and P35,500,000 for the succeeding years.

However, the lease agreement was restructured in 2000, 2003 and in 2008. How can CJHDevco be remiss in its rentals and other MOA commitments to the government when it has already remitted P1.5 billion in rentals to the BCDA, created 2,000 jobs and invested P5 billion in the development of the erstwhile military camp?

The issue could have not gone out of hand if only the parties sat down and exercised diplomacy to understand each other instead of resorting to court cases .