BAGUIO CITY – The Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) warned the State-owned Bases and Conversion Authority (BCDA) on the Camp John Hay Development Corporation (CJH DevCo) on the negative impact of their ongoing dispute and alleged inhumane treatment of buyers in good faith, especially foreigners, to the government’s global effort to promote the country’s tourism industry.
PRA North Luzon satellite office head Eric de Ausen Pati said that the allegations of alleged inhumane treatment done by the BCDA staff, some sheriffs of the court and law enforcers, especially among foreigners, is a cause for alarm on their part because it will run counter to their ongoing efforts to entice foreign retirees to spend their retirement in the country.
He pointed out that the PRA is having a difficult time enticing foreign retirees to prioritize the country as the place to spend their retirement and the bad image made by the allegations of inhumane treatment in the eviction of third-party lessees inside the Forest Lodge and the Manor, especially among foreigners, will not actually do good to the efforts to promote the Philippines as a retirement haven.
The PRA official said that their central office is closely monitoring the developments in the ongoing eviction of lessees in the 247-hectare John Hay Special Economic Zone (JHSEZ) and will surely make the appropriate representations with the BCDA to thresh out emerging issues and concerns on alleged inhumane treatment of local and foreign unit owners to avoid its serious repercussions to the country’s tourism industry.
However, Pati explained that the PRA will extend the necessary assistance to the foreign unit owners who were unjustly evicted from the units that they bought over the past two decades, among others, where such assistance will range from technical and possibly legal, depending on the needs that will be brought to their attention by concerned unit owners.
“We are deeply alarmed over the reports of alleged inhumane treatment from the concerned government officers in the enforcement of the eviction order of local and foreign unit owners because their bad experiences in the country when told to their friends and relatives in their own country will definitely have a negative perception on the prevailing situation in the Philippines, especially on the fair treatment of foreigners,” Pati stressed.
Heewoong Ahn, a Korean unit owner on one of the Camp John Hay hotels and spokesperson of the Korean community in Baguio, underscored that he and his fellow Koreans will no longer have something good to say about the Philippines with their harrowing experiences in their unfair, unjust and inhumane eviction from their respective units that will negatively impact on the promotion of the nation as an investment and tourism hub for foreigners.
He stipulated that the government agencies should try to assess and evaluate their previous actions and try to institute the necessary measures to prevent the situation from going out of control because it will send a negative perception among foreigners that they will not be given the fair treatment that they deserve when investing in the country.
Earlier, the PRA identified Benguet as among the priority retirement hubs of foreign retirees who want to invest and retire in the country and help in driving the economy through their investments. By Dexter A. See
