Friday, March 30, 2007 Acting VM lists 14 ‘latent environmental violations’ in John Hay project By Ernie Olson Jr.
ACTING Vice Mayor Leandro Yangot Jr. this week revealed 14 possible violations of the environmental compliance certificate (ECC) for the Camp John Hay project.
As this developed, he said the City Council should urge the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) for a full disclosure of ongoing development projects and future plans for Camp John Hay, considering reports that large business investors like the Hotel Intercon group and the Ayala group are buying into the development plans of the former American base, which is considered as one of the city’s major forest watershed reservations.
"An initial and cursory reading of the John Hay ECC would yield 14 possible violations already. These range from eco-tourism provisions, local employment, permits and licensing, public consultations with stakeholder communities, domestic water supply and traffic management, and environmental guarantee funds," Yangot said.
It may be recalled that on Jan. 26, 1998, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) under then Secretary Victor Ramos, issued ECC No. 9707-002-120 for the Camp John Hay Development Project.
The ECC was issued subject to several conditions, among which is that "all commitments made in the environmental impact statement, additional information, and other relevant environmental impact assessment documents submitted by the proponent, all relevant laws, rules, regulations and the applicable conditions set by the Baguio City Council, are hereby incorporated and shall form part of the conditions imposed in this ECC (Page 1, Condition 2)."
Yangot also cited possible violations of the ECC in its requirement for an environmental management office and the designation of an environmental officer usually required for projects of this scale and magnitude. "Other concerns include the use of commercial pesticides and fertilizers, the participation of external non-government organizations in information campaigns and the need for updated environmental impact statements," he said.
"The people of Baguio want to know if revisions were made in the environmental impact statements for the project to give way for the entry of new investors in Camp John Hay, thus, a full disclosure from BCDA should be proper," Yangot said.
Reportedly, a call center servicing the Hotel Intercontinental network will soon be operational at Camp John Hay. Also, talks are rife in various business circles that the real estate giant Ayala group is ready to infuse billions of pesos to convert portions of John Hay into a greenbelt mall.
"We really need to know what is going on in Camp John Hay. This affects our city?s share from lease rentals and income derived from the facility," Yangot said.
Presently, he said Camp John Hay owes the local government over P600 million in unpaid lease rentals accumulated in the past ten years, and that this is still growing. This is only P100 million short when compared to Baguio City’s annual budget of over P700 million. Yangot has initiated a vigorous collection campaign for the amount, as it could augment funds for the delivery of basic services to the Baguio community.
