Baguio gov’t, JHMC at odds on school in Camp John Hay

By Ramon Dacawi

BAGUIO CITY -- The city will stand pat on the construction of an elementary school building on the original site agreed with the John Hay Management Corporation (JHMC) despite a change of heart on the part of the government firm on top of developments within the sprawling former United States military rest and recreation center.

This was made clear by city mayor Mauricio Domogan in a meeting Wednesday afternoon with representatives of JHMC, the city schools and barangay officials of Country Club Village who sought the dialogue on the heels of JHMC’s position to transfer the school site to the barangay basketball court.

The mayor noted that the basketball court lot would be too small for a complete elementary school serving kids from kindergarten to sixth grade, adding that the alternative site abutting a road would pose safety problems for the pupils.

“It’s dangerous to children as it’s near the road and the basketball court would be destroyed,” he said.

He said identification of the city’s lot needs within the John Hay Reservation and the segregation of barangays within it were part of the conditions of the city which were agreed with the Bases Conversion Development Authority which has jurisdiction over the same.

The JHMC anchored its shift in stand to a recommendation by the Bureau of Mines and Geo-sciences that development of the original site for a nine-classroom building would require provisions for storm drainage canal and slope protection to prevent erosion.

City councilor Leandro Yangot Jr., who endorsed the original site when he was director of the JHMC, said the school site need not be relocated as the recommended safety provisions cited by the MGB can be included in the program of work.

Taking the cue, the mayor created a technical working group  to study the inclusion of the MGB recommendation in the over-all design of the Country Club Elementary School building. He named architect Johnny Degay, head of the city building and architecture office, as chair, and engineer Bobby Akia, land and asset development division manager of JHMC, as co-chair.

City councilor Peter Fianza, chair of the Sangguniang Panlungsod committee on education, confirmed that the JHMC had long agreed to have the school built on the original site.

“That’s why the sectors involved in the project had built two temporary classrooms made of bamboo to accommodate the pupils pending the construction of a permanent structure,” Fianza said.

Education officials headed by city superintendent of schools Francis Bringas said the department had set aside about P9 million for the project. The mayor and councilor Fianza added that the city is ready to provide a counterpart fund for the building and the drainage and slope protection features of the project.

With them in the meeting were Country Club Village officials led by village chief Gil Lomboy, Country Cub Elementary School principal Manuel Agbunag and engineer Ferdinand Figuerres of the JHMC.