BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan assured officials of the State-owned Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and its subsidiary, the John Hay Management Corporation (JHMC), that he will personally provide the needed assistance to secure the approval of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on the survey conducted to jumpstart the segregation of the 13 barangays from the 625-hectare Camp John Hay forest reservation.
The local chief executive expressed optimism that the long overdue segregation of the 13 barangays from the reservation will finally be realized during the term of President Rodrigo R. Duterte following the positive pronouncements from the new set of BCDA and JHMC officers regarding their views on how to pursue the segregation process.
“We already had several meetings with BCDA and JHMC officials regarding the segregation of the 13 barangays and we were able to somewhat reach an agreement that it should be pursued the soonest through the conduct of consultations with the affected stakeholders. We made it clear to them that what should be segregated is the areas occupied by the barangays,” Domogan stressed.
He said he is just awaiting the decision of BCDA and JHMC officials on how to undertake the segregation process so that city officials will be able to provide the appropriate inputs for the realization of the long overdue commitment of the government to the inhabitants of the concerned barangays.
According to him, residents in the barangays to be segregated must understand the rules and regulations being implemented by BCDA and JHMC regarding the entry of construction materials wherein if the said materials will be for the improvements of their houses, then they must coordinate the matter to the JHMC for their information and guidance.
Under existing rules, vertical and horizontal improvements of structures within the barangays situated within the Camp John Hay reservation are prohibited, except for individuals who own titled properties in the said barangays.
Domogan claimed what is important now is the present BCDA and JHMC officials recognize the validity of the 19 conditions imposed by the local government for the development of the 247-hectare John Hay Special Economic Zone (JHSEZ) wherein one of the conditions is for the BCDA to facilitate the exclusion of the 14 barangays from the forest reservation.
He pointed out the present BCDA and JHMC leadership is proactive that is why there is no compelling reason why the long overdue segregation of the 14 barangays will not be realized considering the existence of final survey results which only needs the approval of the DENR to start the process wherein the people in the barangays to be segregated will have the chance to process the titling of their lots once the lands in their barangays will be reclassified to be alienable and disposable.
He said he is also awaiting the results of the survey that was conducted for the identification of the political boundaries of the concerned barangays to be aligned with the cadastral survey conducted by the DENR to thresh out whatever differences prior to the implementation of the segregation process. By Dexter A. See
