BCDA, city council at odds over Happy Hallow road

By Jordan G. Habbiling

BAGUIO CITY – Despite, pleas from the City Council here, the Bases Conversion Development Authority has opposed a farm-to-market-road project here at Purok 1, Happy Hallow Barangay saying it was BCDA property.
    The proposed road is directly connected to the Happy Hallow circumferential road, serving as a road linkage to the Baguio City Hangar Market.
    The project, which is supposed to be undertaken by the Dept. of Works and Highways-Baguio City District Engineering Office, is aimed at expediting the mobilization of residents’ farm produce to the market center, thus enhancing agriculture in the area.
    It would provide convenience to the residents when traveling from home to their workplaces and vice versa as well as make emergency response easier.
    According to the resolution passed by the council last Monday, the FMR project is “for public purposes which shall benefit barangay residents who depend on farming as their main livelihood.”
    About 80 farmers are identified as beneficiaries of the said project.
    Happy Hallow barangay is one of the 15 villages in the city identified by the City Agricultural and Fisheries Council where agricultural and livestock activities are conducted.
    The Dept. of Agriculture-Cordillera Administrative Region allocated P12,500,000 for the FMR project which has been downloaded to the DPWH-BCDEO for implementation.
    The project however, was hampered by the BCDA on the ground that the location of the proposed project is within its titled property and that the construction of a makeshift road initiated by the community had "caused damage to the environment" there.
    BCDA lawyer Christian Duldulao said road is “tainted with illegality.”
    Duldulao said the BCDA prohibits the DPWH from bringing in construction materials because the project would legitimize a road that they described as “illegal.”
    Happy Hallow Barangay was granted a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) in 2006.
    However, the BCDA had filed a petition to the Supreme Court for the nullification of  said CADT.
    Duldulao said a status quo over the disputed property should be maintained taking into account the case pending before the Court.
    Joselito Dizon, representative of the Council of Elders, said Happy Hallow Barangay is an ancestral domain and residents there are authorized to undertake developments.
    Dizon said the community had sought the improvement of the “dirt road” which had long been existing since the American period.
    It used to be a bridle path, but it had been widened and concretized to allow vehicles to pass through.
    In his letter sent earlier to the city council, Dizon claimed that the realization of the project shall “boost participation of the community in addressing food security not only in the locality but also in nearby provinces.”
    According to the results of the inspection presented by JHMC lot manager Ferdinand Figuerres to the city council, the construction of the makeshift road situated within the Camp John Hay forest watershed reservation had caused massive soil erosion and the collapse of live pine trees.
    Figuerres also showed drone shots to the council to prove the path did not exist until 2017.
A massive structure supposedly for egg production near the makeshift road, according to Figuerres, had also led to felling of more pine trees.
    Figuerras showed documents to the council indicating these developments were not granted permits.
    Hence, Dizon was issued a cease and desist order and a notice of violation.
    He was ordered to demolish the structure and to pay P10,000 as administrative fine.
    Dizon denied construction of the communal road and the agricultural structure had caused soil erosion.
    He said pictures shown by JHMC as proof were taken after the onslaught of a typhoon.
    He said the community had asked consent for the construction of a retaining wall to protect the mountainside along the road, but the JHMC rejected the proposal.
    Engineer Rene Zarate, district engineer of DPWH-BCDEO, said the BCDA’s strong opposition against the FMR project would compel his office to revert the fund to the national treasury.
    Due to the issue, the DA-CAR proposed to its central office that the FMR be relocated to a different site but still within Happy Hallow Barangay.
    Zarate said DA-CAR could request for the realignment of the fund once their proposal to transfer the FMR to another location is approved.
    Councilor Joel Alangsab urged all parties to coordinate with each other to determine whether the proposed new location for the project is mutually acceptable.
    Councilor Mylen Yaranon called on the BCDA to act in the best interests of the people in the community.

She said as a government instrumentality, the BCDA is bound to promote social responsibility.