Camp John Hay segregation survey almost done

THE Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDSA) is determined to fulfill conditions of segregating 14 barangays from the Camp John Hay (CJH) reservation.

BCDA’s estate manager for the former American facility, John Hay Management Corporation president Dr. Jamie Eloise Agbayani, said the Relocation, Structure and Utility Survey for the 14 barangays inside Camp John Hay is nearing completion and projected for implementation under President Benigno Aquino III’s administration.

With the exception of Happy Hallow and Camp 7 barangays, 12 barangays including Hillside, Upper Dagsian, Country Club Village, Lucnab, Outlook Drive, Greenwater, Sta. Escholastica, Lower Dagsian, Loakan-Liwanag, Loakan-Apugan, Loakan Proper and Military Cut-off, were already surveyed by the firm of Engr. Eric Baldo, who conducted the survey.

She said they only have to sort through the issues on overlapping ancestral land claims and other issues with the National Commission Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) after the two signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) last September 13, 2012 to pave way for the segregation and awarding of lands to legitimate landowners in the 14 barangays.

She said both BCDA-JHMC and NCIP set the deadline in June to settle all issues on ancestral land claims and finish the survey which the BCDA funded around P2 million.

The Camp John Hay (CJH) reservation, she said, is currently piloting the resolution of land claims particularly issues on Certificates of Ancestral Land Titles (Calts) and Certificates of Ancestral Domain Titles (CADT) in the country.

Six teams were tasked to conduct the survey at the same time for a period of 50 days based on the surveying contract in an estimated 180 to 200 hectares comprising the CJH reservation.

Joining the segregation survey teams are representatives from the barangays, the City Planning and Development Office, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), National Housing Authority (NHA) and NCIP for barangays with ancestral land claims.

In an earlier interview, JHMC Land Management and Development officer Bobby Akia said the clustering of the barangays will involve three kinds of titles which include the first cluster villages with titles that includes portions of Hillside and Upper Dagsian; untitled properties without CALTs and CADTs that include portions of Country Club, Lucnab, and Outlook Drive villages; untitled properties with CALTs and CADTs that include Lower Dagsian, Loakan-Liwanag, Loakan-Apugan, Loakan Proper, Camp 7 and Happy Hallow.

Several consultations from the barangay to city level will also be conducted by the JHMC after the survey’s completion.

Through the survey, the JHMC president said they will establish the exact metes and bounds of the barangays as well as clearly define overlapping titles so that once segregation will be implemented everything will go smooth, accurate and transparent with legitimate claimants and occupants of these lands.

She said the barangays Hillside and Lower Dagsian with BCDA titles are the first to be segregated and awarded to legitimate occupants not because they are favored by the BCDA-JHMC but because they are ones with the least complications compared to other barangays with ancestral land claims.

“Hopefully by the last quarter of next year, legitimate occupants will be awarded with the lands they have been occupying for decades,” she added.

She said the BCDA-JHMC is strict in implementing no construction, no extension policy without completing the process of segregation and awarding of lots to occupants.

Several areas within the Camp John Hay reservation have been subject to land speculation and squatting recent years prompting the national government to finally address the segregation and award the lots to legitimate occupants.