Sunday, January 14, 2007 Military school denies housing site application in Itogon By Jane Cadalig
THE ADMINISTRATION of the Philippine Military Academy said the institution has not applied for a 30-hectare lot in Itogon as a housing site for its employees.
Colonel Hernando Iriberri, chief of the PMA Academy Staff, clarified the military institution did not apply for a housing project in Itogon.
Iriberri explained the group that applied for a housing project in the municipality - the PMA Headquarters Support Group Cooperative - is a private entity, which is "separate and distinct" from the academy.
Although the group bears the name of the premier military academy, he said its operation is private in nature. "PMA as an institution did not apply for any housing project in Itogon. The one that applied is a private entity that is not in any way connected to PMA."
"Some of the members of the cooperative are employees of the academy but this does not mean that their actions (such as the housing site application) are sanctioned by the institution. We never supported the group," he said.
Residents of Barangays Ucab and Gumatdang in Itogon earlier filed a petition opposing the application of the cooperative for the segregation of 30 hectares of public forest in the two villages to be used as a housing site for its members.
The opposition was upheld by the local government of Itogon and the Benguet Provincial Board, who summoned officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to explain the matter.
