Prompt action pushed to segregate 13 villages from Camp John Hay pushed

By Jordan G. Habbiling

BAGUIO CITY -- The Baguio City Council urged Mayor Benjamin Magalong to arrange a meeting among city officials, stakeholders and representatives from the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) and John Hay Management Corporation (JHMC) to hasten segregation of 13 barangays from the Camp John Hay reservation.
    In a resolution, the City Council said all concerned individuals must convene to “facilitate the process.”
    The resolution took note of the comment of some participants of public consultation last Feb. 28 that the segregation “is taking too long.”
    The 13 barangays eyed for segregation are Country Club Village, Happy Hallow, Scout Barrio, Green Water, Hillside, Loakan-Liwanag, Loakan Proper, Apugan-Loakan, Upper Dagsian, Lower Dagsian, Lucnab, Military Cut-Off, Escolastica Village.
    The city government, for almost two decades, had been trying to get the commitment of JHMC and BCDA in pursuing segregation of the 13 barangays in compliance with one of conditions of Resolution No. 362, series of 1994 which provided 19 conditions imposed by the local government for the development of the John Hay Special Economic Zone.
    In a meeting between members of the City Council and Rep. Marques Go in 2022, Vice Mayor Faustino Olowan said that JHMC and BCDA had been reminded countless times by the city government to comply with the 19 conditions.

However, the vice mayor claimed these constant reminders seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.

A more assertive move needs to be undertaken in order to ensure full compliance, he said.

The members of the former and present city council have been lobbying for the revision of the amendment of the Baguio City Charter to address its “deficiencies” including lack of provisions of the law that would warrant segregation of the 13 barangays.

In his message during the Feb. 28 public consultation, Magalong expressed frustration in seeming lack of action on the part of BCDA and JHMC to segregate the barangays.