An Invalid Excuse

“Equally Important Appointments”: Another Excuse by BCDA and JHMC to Delay the City Council Meeting?

Mayor Mauricio Domogan of Baguio City reiterated their solid stand with regards to BCDA’s requisition of Camp John Hay. Once more, he claimed that the Baguio City government should take custody of the former US military base. A total of 19 conditions were made by the local government even before the Camp John Hay was handed over to the BCDA which is part of the national government.

The scheduled Council Meeting was supposedly formed to ease the heated discussion between the Baguio City government headed by Domogan and Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) – John Hay Management Corporation (JHMC) headed by Arnel Paciano Casanova and Jamie Eloise Agbayani, respectively.

But instead of participating and appearing in the scheduled council session, Casanova and Agbayani didn’t showed up.  Casanova, the president and chief executive officer of BCDA said that he had attended a corporate planning session together with his staff. 

Unfortunately, the said appointment coincided with the session organized by the council. Coincidentally, JHMC president and CEO, Agbayani, ostensibly attended her own set of meetings which she described as an “equally important” matter. Seriously, is the Camp John Hay problem not significant enough for them to skip the council meeting? 

They better look at what’s happening inside the camp, the agony experienced by all the people affected by the issue keeps on increasing while legal processes are being dragged on by Casanova’s BCDA and his cavalry.

Mayor Domogan is confident that they can totally reclaim Camp John Hay or at persuade BCDA to grant all of the 19 conditions that they have made. He said that Resolution 362, series 1994 contains all of this 19 conditions and it was made way back then when the project was not even bid out. It also used to be included in some provisions of the master plan. 

Also according to him, the conditions were a pact made by the local government and BCDA so the latter must equitably honor all of the conditions included on the agreement.

One of the most vital conditions cited by the Baguio city government was the seclusion of 13 barangays from the proposed Camp John Hay development project as well as the endowment of its own water supply. They are also urging BCDA to pay the local government’s share from lease rentals.


Providing all of these 19 conditions might be too much for BCDA’s part to say the least. That may be the reason why they keep on delaying the sessions so that they can improvise new wicked ways to win this ceaseless legal battle.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015 | Labels: , , | 0 Comments  

On Arnel Casanova's reputation

Arnel Paciano Casanova's triumphant career expedition has been well documented. He is one of those exemplary individuals having a Cinderella-story like of life. He is academically exceptional. Combine that with his outstanding gregarious negotiation skills and you are going to have an almost perfect leader like him. That's what most of his supporters believe he is.

This guy from Padre Garcia, Batangas has now emerged into one of the most prominent personalities in the Philippines. Given the fact that he is a famed lawyer, he is also the president and chief executive officer of the government-owned Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).

BCDA aims to develop the economic growth of the country, something which Casanova is known of. He developed the former army camp in Fort Bonifacio into a fully developed and urbanized business district which is now giving Ayala and Ortigas centers a run for their money.

According to him, BCDA plans to build more urbanized areas and business districts around the country in order for us to attain a flourishing economy.

While his proposals seem to look good on paper, his anomalous actions toward Camp John Hay Development Authority (CJHDevCo) proves that there's some kind of a malevolent intention behind Casanova's deceiving tactics.

Camp John Hay claims may be brought about by possible billion-peso projects once it materializes.

CJHDevCo together with locators and sub-lesses of the former American bases are continuously being harrased by Casanova  and his men. Despite of the decision made by Philippine Dispute Resolution Center Inc. (PDRCI) claiming that CJHDevCo must first receive a payment amounting to 1.4 billion pesos from the government before turning the camp over to the administration.

Here comes the sad part, Casanova is extremely reluctant to comply with PDRCI's orders but is still keenly pursuing to surmount Camp John Hay. Allegedly, he also threatened the third parties like locators and sub-less despite of the given memo that they shouldn't be involved in the said conflict since they are paying their respective rental fees.

CJHDevCo even filed a Judicial Confirmation before the Regional Trial Court of Baguio to persuade the decision of the arbitration court. It also shows how dedicated they are towards acting in accordance with the law.

More often than not, Casanova's reputation undeniably took a major hit due to these types of accusations. This only proves that even a poor person with humble beginnings can still be transformed into a fierce tyrant when greed and money take over.


Wednesday, June 10, 2015 | Labels: , , , | 0 Comments  

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