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27.1 C
Philippines
Monday, February 17, 2025
27.1 C
Philippines
Monday, February 17, 2025

The Camp John Hay turnover

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes and 33 seconds
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What will the next management company do to the 247-hectare former United States military recreation facility is important

AFTER many years of legal squabbling, control of Baguio City’s beloved Camp John Hay is finally back under government control.

The Supreme Court, in a final decision, returned CJH to the Bases Conversion and Development Authority. And within a day, BCDA announced a new interim company to manage the facility.

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What happens next, or more precisely, what will the next management company do to the 247-hectare former United States military recreation facility is important.

In fact, this has become the subject of conversations among the older generation of Baguio residents familiar with the old CJH run by the Americans.

CJH was very different then compared to what it is today.

For instance, why the original gate was transferred is beyond me. With the transfer and the redesigning of the golf course, the old Sheridan Road which was one of the oldest roads in the city is now gone.

Many structures considered heritage buildings have been demolished. The wooden cottages and other similar structures are now about to crumble due to zero maintenance.

Since CJH’s area is 247 hectares, it was never explained why the original structures that were almost 90 years old built by the Americans had to be demolished when the new structures could have been constructed elsewhere.

The Igorot lodge which was the former mess hall and dispensary has been demolished, replaced by a huge concrete building that is under construction.

The old Officers Club House was of course demolished a quarter of a century ago for the Manor Hotel.

The Italian garden right at the current main entrance is now gone. In its place is what we would call a tagpi-tagpi eatery hidden by bamboo grass typical of many eateries we find in our highways right there in CJH, a supposedly premier tourist destination.

The BCDA recently came out with a statement that it plans to offer an additional 70 hectares to private developers while announcing its intention to maintain CJH as an eco-tourism facility.

BCDA is estimating that, with this offer, about P10b in investments from the private sector can be generated.

This move should alarm the Baguio public. Is it the intention of BCDA to allow more business establishments inside the CJH very much allowing it to become another Central Business District in the City?

Where will the 70 hectares come from since most of the good part of the facility are already built up?

The only remaining areas now are forested and, if that will go, so will all the hiking trails.

So much for eco-tourism.

And why is BCDA not even inviting some sectors of the Baguio community for public consultations on how to move forward to avoid further mistakes in CJH’s development?

Doesn’t BCDA believe that Baguio residents have a stake in CJH’s development too?

A vision and a plan are necessary to be put in writing so that it can be studied and dissected.

We must not allow this very precious remaining forested space in the City to be mangled and become like so many other parts of the city that were developed without any plans at all.

Because if that were to happen, it will be a bigger tragedy. Just look at what happened to the mountains and hills around in CBD whose trees have disappeared and replaced by houses. Tourists go to the city to enjoy the pine trees and free space that they don’t have back home not more congestion.

I wish I could say that I have some confidence in the government’s ability to maintain and enforce strict standards because I have very little.

I see CJH going the way other facilities that have been taken over by us from the Americans: Unrestricted development.

The Camp John Hay is one of the few forested areas left in the Baguio where people can still go to enjoy the scent of pines trees.

But that will be gone too if we follow what the BCDA wants.

Eco-tourism? Environmental degradation is more like it.

Sometimes, it is better to just to leave things as they are. We can enjoy nature better that way. So, let’s protect what’s left of CJH.

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