Issues On Baguio : Camp John Hay (2)

THE only place in Baguio that has retained most of its pine trees and open space is Camp John Hay, the former Rest & Recreation (R & R) destination of the US Armed Forces.  At 5,000 feet above sea level, it is much cooler and has much less humidity than the lowlands. Baguio has a mild climate similar to the many states back home in America.

It is truly a blessing that then President Theodore Roosevelt signed an Executive Order on October 25, 1903 setting aside 695 hectares of land for a military reservation in Benguet province. Without Camp John Hay and the contiguous areas of the Baguio Country Club with its golf course, and the Teachers Camp, the country’s designated summer capital would never be the same.

Other than the major tourism attractions of the Burnham Park, Mines View Park and the Wright Park & Mansion, what really makes – or defines –Baguio is Camp John Hay. Unfortunately, the former American R &R station high up in the Cordilleras is no longer the same as what it used to be.

After its turnover by the US government to the Philippines in July 1991, Camp John Hay became open to Filipinos and the public at large. My family and I thoroughly enjoyed the pristine environment and the facilities of the former American facility. However, after the Philippine government awarded a 25-year lease in 1996 (renewable for 25 years) to the Fil-Estate company, it was never the same again.

The redevelopment of the 247 hectares of land inside the former American base by Fil-Estate’s Camp John Hay Development Corporation (CJH DevCor) can be best – or worst – described as elitist and “anti-Filipino.” The places that visitors and residents of Baguio used to go to are no longer accessible to or off-limits to the public.  Worse. some have been  demolished or just left to deteriorate.

The favorite place in Camp John Hay that Filipinos frequent is the elevated area with the view of the Cordillera mountains. This area used to house the former Officers Main Club of the US Armed Forces and the 19th Tee & Tee Bar where you could buy meals and refreshments with a view of the golf course. My family and I loved this area not only because of the food, but also of the lovely one kilometre promenade.

Today, this one-of-a-kind prime area of Camp John Hay is long gone. It is now occupied by the luxurious Manor and the Forest Lodge hotels of the Fil-Invest company under Mr. Robert “Bob” Sobrepeña, together with Executive Vice-President Alfonso “Boysie”Yniquez. They cannot entirely be blamed for the elitist redevelopment because the government allowed them to do so.

The only way you can enjoy walking around the same area is either to be booked at the ritzy Manor hotel or to eat at the high-end fine-dining restaurant. Per our visit last June this year, the landscaped park of the Manor is now poorly-maintained with some areas over-grown with grass and plants and awfully muddy.

Two weeks ago, my family and I visited the Forest Lodge beside the Manor Hotel.  It is most unfortunate that what was taken away from the Filipino people to enjoy has been turned into a parking lot for the hotel guests. This is such a grave injustice to us, Filipinos, who have been oppressed by our government through their sheer greed and/or incompetence!

The wrong that has been done can still and should be rectified by the next president of the Philippines since Pnoy Aquino’s administration is already a hopeless case. The parking lot of Forest Lodge together with the contiguous area at the back of the Manor Hotel can be REDEVELOPED as one integral part of a park open to the people. This can be done without adversely affecting the operations of the two luxury hotels.

What I would like to see is the redevelopment of Camp John Hay when the areas at the back of  Baguio Manor and Forest Lodge are RETURNED to the people for them to enjoy.
While the rectified redevelopment is being undertaken, the old road that goes up and leads to Scout Hill can also and should be made open to pedestrians. The Scout Hill area should be redeveloped to bring back the recreational facilities (there was the mini-golf and skating-rink before) and some food stalls and a restaurant across, which are gone now.

What has become of Scout Hill is that the old white cottages built by the Americans were demolished to give way to the exclusive luxury log cabins and townhouses. Unfortunately, they were not even properly planned and were built too close to each other, creating a high-density area characterized by the congestion of the structures.

What is perhaps even worse is that the Camp John Hay Development Corporation (CJH DevCor) has not bothered to fix the road going up to Scout Hill from the main road. The pavement of the road has severely deteriorated over the past five years and neither the CJH DevCor nor the BDA has done anything to improve it. It is in such pathetic state.

However, the CJH DevCor has asphalt overlayed the circular road where the CJH DevCor office is located. Nearby is the historic Bell House & Amphitheater named after Major General James Franklin Bell who was responsible for many, if not most, of the structures. The Bell House is, of course, of American architecture and furnishings where the American Governor-Generals and other top US officials stayed in Baguio.

One of the greatest sins committed  inside Camp John Hay is the closure of its main entrance gate  that before allowed visitors to just walk in with easy access and  enjoy its pristine environment:  the pine trees, plants and open space. You could roam around the areas near the golf course and enjoy the view of the greenery. These simple pleasures are all gone now with the closure of the main gate and the redevelopment of the golf course.

Instead of just walking to the former American recreational facility, you now have to commute by either taking a taxi via Loakan Road or by taking South Drive all the way down to Baguio Country Club. The closure of the main gate near the city (walking distance from SM Baguio) has made Camp John Hay no longer accessible to many Filipinos.

The other best part of Camp John Hay is the area where CJH DevCor built the Clubhouse for the golf course designed by the world-famous Jack Nicklaus together with the upscale Forest Cabins & Country Homes. However, this area is now off-limits to the public unless you are a member of the golf club or own one of the exclusive houses. It is truly sad to see the Filipino people deprived of the simple pleasure of enjoying just being in Camp John Hay.

Today, there is really not many places to go to and enjoy in the remaining wooded area in Baguio City. Near the entrance from Loakan Road is the Ayala Techno Hub with its building for the CONVERGIS call-center and the retail areas for restaurants. Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) did little architecturally to make its structures blend with the  Baguio environment. They could have done more if they wanted to.

First, ALI used the ugly green-colored roofing! From the Green Valley Club, you can see this roofing eyesore of Ayala. They should have used more of the earth colors like the color of the brown trunk of the pine trees. And to think that Ayala prides itself in having the
Environment as one of the “Three Es” of its Corporate Social responsibility (CSR).

Second, the design of the buildings is just like the ones in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu or in the San-Fernando-Angeles area in Pampanga. There is hardly any attempt by Ayala to make the visitors appreciate the distinct environemt and architecture of the area they have developed.

A good lesson here is that the government must have the Development Guidelines that can include a Conceptual Development Plan (CDP) of the area. The winning bidder cannot be allowed to do whatever it wants just like what happened at Camp John Hay where both the BCDA and the CJH DevCor failed miserably.

Rick B. Ramos at rbrpilipinas@gmail.com

Rick B. Ramos

in Baguio, Camp John Hay, Featured, Places

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Issues On Baguio : Camp John Hay (2)

THE only place in Baguio that has retained most of its pine trees and open space is Camp John Hay, the former Rest & Recreation (R ...

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Issues on Baguio : DPWH projects to Camp John Hay (1)

IN a span of one year, I have written five articles on the issues concerning Baguio City and its environs. It started with the “Issues on Degradation of Baguio” (MT, 31 May 2014) to which former President Fidel V. Ramos (FVR) promptly responded to since he was mentioned in the said article. In our meeting, FVR clarified what happened during his term and this was discussed in a \subsequent article (MT, 14 June 2014).

I was in Baguio last week to take a short break and there seems to be no end to the saga of issues in the favourite summer capital of the Philippines. From the worsening traffic and air pollution to the suffocating congestion of what is supposed to be a mountain resort city high up in the Cordilleras.

Of course, what aggravates the situation in Baguio and the towns of La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablang and Tuba (BLIST) are the never-ending projects of the Department of Public Works & Highways (DPWH) that are apparently conceived in sin. These public infrastructure projects, as pointed out in the past articles, are not even needed and poorly- implemented by the DPWH and their dubious favoured contractors.

Residents of the BLIST area in Benguet province, as well as visitors to the country’s summer capital, can only shake their heads and wonder why DPWH indulge in such acts of insanity.

One thing for sure is that the present-day INSANITY of the DPWH projects would NEVER have happened under the administration of former President Ramos, who has a civil engineering degree from the US Military Academy in West Point, New York. He would have either lambasted and/or fired the incompetent DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson.

Saga of DWPH insanity in Baguio

Let us begin with the Kennon Road that starts at Camp 1 in Tuba, Benguet and ends at Baguio City. In spite of the hundreds of millions of pesos spent by the DPWH in Benguet province that includes Baguio, the 33-km highland national highway has not been fully paved after five years of the Aquino Daang Matuwid.

You would expect that Camps 1, 2 and 3 in Tuba would been paved with asphalt as part of its regular maintenance program. However, they have NOT done it in the past five years. Instead of doing simple asphalt-overlay on the pavement, the DPWH under Secretary Singson prefers the more expensive and unnecessary “REBLOCKING” that leads to bigger project costs that benefit both the contractors and officials of DPWH.

What has been done is the shameless REBLOCKING starting at Camp 3 in Tuba, Benguet, instead of asphalt-overlay after doing minor repairs on the pavement. Secretary Singson and his Undersecretary Romeo Momo (in charge of Regional Operations) could not care less if their shameless projects caused traffic along Kennon Road. My family and I have been victims of the traffic standstill caused by the on-going construction of DPWH.

About a month ago, there was a landslide along Kennon Road (Camp 6) that was reported in the national newspapers. When we went up to Baguio last week, the repair work had not been finished in three weeks. Not even 50 percent completion! Yet this could have been done and over by now if repairs  had been done by a private sector contractor.

The WORST part is that neither the DPWH contractor nor the District Engineer put even just compacted sand and gravel on the lane where the cars would pass. Thus, with only the soil on earth, it became muddy and made the vehicles crawl to a speed of about 5 kms per hour or less. This caused the traffic jam along Kenon Road last week.

Just what kind of contractors do the DPWH have in the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR)? The DWPH contractor that did the  REBLOCKING adjacent to Baguio’s only flyover really did such a lousy job. After tearing down the concrete pavement and concreting it again, they covered a section with asphalt to hide the defective work. Even the repair work on the pavement at the flyover’s approach used asphalt instead concrete
In my column of April 12, I exposed the never-ending insanity of the DWPH  in the summer capital with its REBLOCKING projects. The DPWH demolished one lane of Quezon Hill Road 2 and one lane of Mallare Road on the left side. Looking at the remaining lane of Quezon Hill Road 2, it is obvious that what the DPWH demolished was a well-paved road with asphalt overlay on top of concrete.

Yet the favorite national government agency of PNoy would not do what it is supposed to do. For instance, Magsaysay Avenue should be WIDENED to efficiently connect Baguio City to La Trinidad and ease the traffic congestion. It should be a continuous four-lane highway with sidewalks on both sides for pedestrians.

However, after more than five years of the Aquino administration with billions of pesos spent on public works in Metro Baguio or the BLIST region, Magsaysay Ave. has not been completely widened until today. Yet DPWH is giving priority to REBLOCKING that exacerbates the traffic situation. It is truly amazing how DPWH cannot come up with a “Right Project,” despite  claiming to practice the “5 Rs.”

Likewise, instead of doing simple asphalt overlay along the Baguio – Bontoc Road in front of the Benguet State University (BSU), the DPWH prefers to do REBLOCKING! The DPWH has a project there worth P44,848,444.84 for the “Widening with Drainage & Reblocking on Poor & Bad Sections along the Baguio-Bontoc Rd.” although there are no known flooding issues in front of the BSU campus. Amazing !

Why can’t DPWH prioritize the widening along Magsaysay Ave.  so that it would become a continuous four-lane national highway linking Baguio and La Trinidad? Simple!

The P44.85 Million project was started on Feb. 13, 2015 and was supposed to be completed by August 13, 2015. I forgot to check on its status last week during our short visit. However, it is a short highway of only about one kilometer (less than 1.0 km at K0255 +380 – K0256 + 172). So why should it take six months to finish it?

DPWH is now installing new drainage along major roads in Baguio that are not needed like in Leonard Wood Road and others. They are not needed because the existing drainage systems are still functioning. But DPWH has demolished sidewalks and removed the existing concrete pipes (600 mm or 2.0 ft in diameter) only to replace them with a bigger diameter pipe (900 mm or 3.0 ft) that is not needed.

The topography of the Leonard Wood and other roads will make the rain-water flow down the slope of the roads and NOT to the sides of the roads where the new concrete pipes are  being installed. In short, the new drainage pipes will be lucky to catch 20 percent of the rainfall that will flow to the gutter and into the drainage grates of the curb.

It would be interesting to ask the DPWH for their scientific basis or justification.  For sure, the DPWH District Office and/or DPWH-CAR did not even undertake any forensic investigations to justify the INSANITY with their projects. “Forensic investigation” refers to the determination of the cause of the problem and the solution(s) address them. There was NO Problem to begin with!

Rick B. Ramos at rbrpilipinas@gmail.com

Rick B. Ramos

in Baguio, Camp John Hay, DPWH, Featured, Places

Friday, August 21, 2015

Issues on Baguio : DPWH projects to Camp John Hay (1)

IN a span of one year, I have written five articles on the issues concerning Baguio City and its environs. It started with the “Issues on ...

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Delusion on ‘reforms’ of Aquino presidency

It is simply amazing how public funds are sadly wasted in public works and transportation projects (DPWH & DoTC), and government revenues are lost due to the smuggling of rice, oil-products and others at the Bureau of Customs (BoC). The amounts involve each year run to hundreds of billions of pesos.

The worst part in the waste of the people’s money is when these projects undertaken are not even needed at all, which now seems to be a hallmark of the Aquino administration. Of course, this is on top of the projects being obscenely overpriced due to substandard materials used, such as with the 203 bunkhouses built by DPWH contactors worth over P200.0 Million that Rehabilitation Chief Panfilo “Ping” Lacson has revealed.

Last 22 March 2014, I wrote an article entitled “Corruption at DPWH & Road Board” on the anomalous lighting project of the DPWH and its Road Board along the Alabang-Zapote Road in Muntinlupa. This was reported earlier in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on 15 December 2013 entitled “’Overkill’: New Munti streetlights questioned.” Until today, Secretary Rogelio Singson has not stopped this notorious lighting project.

The issue on the controversial P15.0 Million project is that the Road Board is putting up 125 new lamp-posts in the Alabang Town Center and Madrigal Business Park area when there is already existing lighting there along the national road. Other than the fact that they are not needed, the new lampposts are installed 15 to 20 meters apart, instead of the correct 30 to 40 meters distance. Such unbridled DPWH corruption!

Thus, it is truly surprising to hear senior Cabinet members of President Benigno S. Aquino III speak of the “reforms” that have been achieved in the past four years, which “must be continued” in the remaining last two years and beyond his term in 30 June 2016. There now appears to be a glaring disparity between actual reality and the delusion of PNoy and his people. Speaking of being out of touch with reality!

Last Wednesday, perennial presidential aspirant Manuel “Mar” Roxas II broached the idea of a second term for President B. S. Aquino III. The current Secretary of the Department of Interior & Local Government (DILG) claims that the alleged clamor is a “support for the continuance of Daan Matuwid.” In short, Mar Roxas wants “PNoy to continue the reforms,” as the Inquirer placed on its front page last Thursday, August 7.

During the Senate hearing on the despicable Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) last July 24, 2014, Budget & Management Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad deliriously spoke of the “chilling effect” of the Supreme Court decision declaring DAP as unconstitutional on the “Aquino’s administration momentum for reform.” This ludicrous statement must really be A BAD Joke, as I wrote in my column of 26 July 2014.

Two months earlier in May, Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima wrote an article in time for the World Economic Forum (WEF) held in Manila on the alleged reforms undertaken by the Aquino administration. Mr. Purisima wrote: “To see how reforms can change perception and reality one may look at the Philippines.”

Even the Inquirer seem to support that “reform” line with its article entitled “Under International Scrutiny: If PH Reform Irreversible” that asked on “ whether the turnaround that the country has seen in recent years is irreversible? Again, the question is what “turnaround” has really happened in the past years?

The “turnover” that the Aquino administration must be referring to are the impressive economic growth in the past two years, particularly the 7. 2 per cent increase in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2013 and the investment upgrades from Fitch, Standard & Poor (S&P) and Moody’s. Yet this impressive figures have not really translated to more jobs to provide for the people’s basic needs, such as food on the table.

No less than Economic Planning Secretary and NEDA Director-General Arsenio Balisacan admitted last year that there is no inclusive growth in the Philippine economy. Last month, even the Office of the President in Malacañang announced that the Aquino administration “shall focus on inclusive growth” in its remaining two years. This is something that they should have started doing two years ago in 2012.

It remains a mystery what these “reforms” are that President B.S. Aquino 3rd has achieved in the past four years. Neither the Chief Executive nor his senior Cabinet members like Mar Roxas, Butch Abad and Cesar Purisima can spell out what these alleged “reforms” are. Perhaps they are a state secret that cannot be divulged due to national security. Indeed, these “reforms” are all rhetoric without the details.

Political Machiavellianism?

The Daan na Matuwid rhetoric of the Aquino administration sounds like the “momentum for reforms” that DBM Secretary Abad shamelessly spoke of during the Senate hearing two weeks ago. It is sheer hypocrisy and delusion for PNoy and his people to talk of “reforms” when the Department of Justice (DoJ) has not yet filed the third batch of complaints with the Office of the Ombudsman on the P10.0 Billion PDAF scam.

The first batch of complaints was filed by the DoJ with the Ombudsman almost a year ago in September 2013 against Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon “Bong” Revilla. Jr., who are now imprisoned with their indictment at the Sandiganbayan. The second batch was filed in late November 2013 that included former congressman and Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon, a Liberal Party stalwart.

However, the third batch of complaints that would include Liberal Party members and political allies of the administration were supposed to have been filed by the DoJ with the Office of the Ombudsman in late April or early May this year. Three months have passed (May-July) and the eloquent Secretary Leila de Lima has successfully deferred its filing.

Just like with the alleged “savings” impounded in the despicable DAP, the Aquino presidency must have also redefined the new meaning of the word “reforms!”

rbrpilipinas@gmail.com

Rick B. Ramos

in

Saturday, August 08, 2015

Delusion on ‘reforms’ of Aquino presidency

It is simply amazing how public funds are sadly wasted in public works and transportation projects (DPWH & DoTC), and government reven...

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Nothing much has changed in 30 years

I DID not watch the sixth and last State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 27 of President Benigno S. Aquino 3rd. Well, there were better things to do like fixing some things in the house and also arranging some business and personal files. It was a productive day last Monday where my family and I sorted out things and were able to separate items that can be given to charity, like clothes and shoes.

Based on what have been printed in the newspapers and posted in social media, President Aquino’s final SONA in 2015 has been a huge disappointment. Well, I expected it and that is why I did not bother to waste my time listening and making my blood pressure elevate. Among those who listened to PNoy, there was no person whom I talked to who was happy with what was said in the two-hour presidential speech.

My orthopaedic doctor, who looks like she is in her late 30s, told me that she had expected the President to talk about his achievements in the past five years and the challenges that remain, which will be inherited by his successor. She said that she did not expect a farewell speech thanking everyone as if it was his last day in office. Well said.

What was amusing was when my doctor told me that President B. S. Aquino 3rd also even thanked his hairdresser. Then I realized there was really nothing much up there to work on to dress his hair, unless it includes the hair under his armpit. Seriously, it is so puerile for a President to thank one’s hairdresser as if he were a movie actress or pop singer who would also thank the person who did her make-up!

On the serious side, the pathetic President criticized and blamed former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) for the nth time for about 25 minutes, according to a business leader who attended the SONA and was later interviewed for his comments. In 2012, I had predicted that President Aquino would criticize GMA up to his last year in office. I was proven right, as usual. In fact, Noynoy will blame her until his dying day.

Gobal News Network (GNN) invited me to their Politics Today program a week earlier on July 20. The topic taken during the talk-show program hosted by Harry Tambuatco was on All the LIES on the Previous SONAs. In his Talk to Harry program, Mr. Tambuatco touched on all the previous presidential prevarications, which I helped explain for the viewers to better appreciate like the 12,000 kms of road by the DPWH.

When I was asked by the host on what to expect on the forthcoming SONA, my reply was that it would Be More of the Same.  These are the LIES that President Aquino dish out each year when he addresses the Joint chambers of Congress – the House of Representatives and the Senate. Just like drugs, alcohol and sex, prevarications and equivocations can also be addicting to a person imbued with hubris and hypocrisy.
My final comment on the SONA is that President Aquino eluded the subject on the Slaughter of the Special Action Force (SAF) commandos in Mamasapano, Maguindanao as if there is already closure to it. Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendres said in a TV interview that there is nothing more to be said. This guy is a complete idiot like his boss.
Reflections on the  past three decades  (1986-2015)
So little has changed for the better and so much has changed for the worse in the past 30 years. There are still the ubiquitous Public Utility Jeepneys (PUJs) that has remained the main mode of public transportation in the secondary routes. The Jeepneys are still the same as in the past three decades: dilapidated, smoke-belching and with undisciplined drivers who will stop anywhere for their passengers.

President Fidel V. Ramos (FVR) had wanted the PUJs removed in five years when he became president. A line in the popular song of the Earth Wind & Fire goes, “something happened along the way and yesterday was all we had.” I will ask FVR when we meet again. Last time was at the launch of his book Giving Back: Service & Legacy last week. Fellow Manila Times columnist Rigoberto Tiglao also attended the affair.

After the ubiquitous Jeepneys are the tricycles that have now strayed from their tertiary routes to the national highways like the Sucat Road. (now Dr. A. Santos Ave.) in Parañaque to the Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay Road in Laguna and Cavite. There is a law or a government regulation that prohibits tricycles from the national highways, but the law enforcement agencies concerned have not implemented it in the past 30 years.

Related to public transportation are the traffic congestion and air pollution that go with it. Almost everyone these days are complaining about the worsening traffic situation in the metropolis, especially in the past five years under the sanctimonious administration of President Aquino. The same goes for the air pollution caused by motor vehicles that can be seen in the Makati skyline and down southwest to Pasay and Manila.

The traffic congestion has actually started to deteriorate as early as in Year 2000, while the air quality began to worsen in the mid- 1990s. These two factors are the main reasons why I moved my family to the province and have lived there for ten years now. The other reason is the deteriorating peace and order situation (we were burglarized thrice! in the metropolis) and also to spend more time with the wife and children. I learned to relax in a more conducive environment.

However, nothing can be compared to the despicable traffic and pollution today. Well, traffic management is under the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) headed by the super-incompetent Chairman whose only qualification is being the friend and former classmate of PNoy! He is a lawyer-politician experimenting in traffic!

In public infrastructure and transportation, the most accomplishments happened during the term of President Ramos: LRT 2, MRT 3, C-5, Skyway and the rehabilitation of SLEX up to Alabang and NLEX. This is rather impressive because the six years (1992-1998) under FVR only constitute 20 percent of the past (almost) 30 years since EDSA 1. PGMA’s term of 9.5 years or 30 percent of 30 years was also impressive for public infra achievements.

The most pathetic of the past three decades are the combined terms of the Aquino mother and son. Together their 12 years in office represent 40 percent of the past 30 years. The administration of President Corazon Aquino was far better because she had the benefit of having high-caliber Cabinet members and other top officials. Her son, who hardly worked in his life, could only appoint his friends, former classmate and shooting buddies.

Rick B. Ramos

in

Sunday, August 02, 2015

Nothing much has changed in 30 years

I DID not watch the sixth and last State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 27 of President Benigno S. Aquino 3rd. Well, there were ...

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