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SUNDAY, 05 AUGUST 2012 18:52 FELIX N. CODILLA III / CORRESPONDENT
ORMOC CITY—An electrification improvement project in Barangay Camp Downes here is in jeopardy of not being implemented because of a dispute between residents and army officials. This was learned at a meeting between officials and members of a local homeowners’ association.
Maximo Torcende, Institutional Services Department manager of Leyte-V Electric Cooperative Inc. (Leyeco V) who is also a resident of Camp Downes, said that Department of Energy (DOE) has allotted more than P300,000 for the electrification expansion at Purok 3 under Energy Regulation 1-94.
However, this may not be implemented after Camp Commander Lt. Col. Edgardo Batinga went to Torcende’s office to complain why Leyeco V provided electricity connection to the barangay residents. His complaint was contained in a letter dated June 11, 2012, addressed to Leyeco V General Manager Juanito Jorda Jr. which partly read: “Please be informed that installation of electrical wiring connections made by your office in favor of the professional squatters inside Camp Jorge Downes Military Reservation violated the provision stated in Article 2, Section 5b of Republic Act No. 7279 which has a penalty of six (6) years imprisonment and a fine of P5,000 to P100,000.”
“In this regard, we request removal of the said illegal wiring connections to correct the violations of law committed by your office,” the letter said.
Torcende said he didn’t act on the Army’s demand to disconnect the residents’ electrical connection, adding that the military camp should be disconnected first considering its unpaid back accounts. However, Leyeco V may stop additional electrical installations within the reservation.
An applicant for electrical connection is required to present either a land title or, in the case of tenants, authorization from the landowner.
This also derails future electrical improvements in the neighborhood including the one programmed by the DOE at Purok 3. Torcende said the money intended for the project will revert to the national government as it cannot be used in other puroks considering it is subject to audit.
Tension mounted in Camp Downes as residents braced for their eviction from the Army reservation. This was the general mood at the meeting called by the homeowners’ association to discuss the “harassment” they experienced lately from the 802nd Infantry (Peerless) Brigade.
Topping their list of the series of harassment they claimed was perpetrated by the military was the closure of the gate leading to Sitio Liberty with its 143 households. This forced residents in that area to take a long detour going to the main road.
Army officers also tightened rules on ownership of pets and livestock, as well as house repairs and improvements.
Residents said the clampdown began with the assumption in May by Batinga as camp commander. The residents said they were convinced his actions were meant to force them out of their homes.
This included a January 31, 2012, letter to Mayor Eric C. Codilla where Brigade Commander Col. John S. Bonafos said he had taken steps to implement the policy of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) “to evict illegal settlers and/or occupants in the said military reservation.”
Bonafos considered “any and all entry, occupation and/or development in the military reservations, whether by private individuals or government agencies, entities, homeowners’ associations and subdivisions” as illegal. As such, he requested Codilla not to grant building and business permits to informal settlers of Camp Downes “considering they are illegally occupying the military reservation.”
Bonafos also asked Codilla in the letter to help them get rid of the houses at the camp shoreline which he describes as the AFP’s future naval base. He said the Army intended to make there a boulevard to become an added attraction to the city. Some employees of the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office in Albuera town shared the residents’ apprehension.
In her report dated March 5, 2007, Land Management Officer Angelyn de Lara Costelo wrote: “That during our investigation and verification, we found out that the Brigade of the Philippine Army wanted to eject and demolish all the settlers and occupants of barangay Camp Downes on the grounds that the barangay is part of military reservation since they have [a] plan to utilize and develop the place for the active personnel of [the] Philippine Army.”
Costelo was referring to the 5-hectare “Kawal Kalinga” off-base housing project for soldiers proposed by camp officials.
Background
CAMP Downes used to be part of neighboring Barangay Bantigue. Old-time residents claimed their grandparents occupied the disputed areas since the pre-war era. On December 23, 1968, President Ferdinand E. Marcos issued Presidential Decree 502 declaring Camp Jorge Downes as a military reservation with an area of 36 hectares.
Despite the proclamation, military authorities didn’t prevent the residents from staying. On January 9, 1979, Camp Downes was created pursuant to PD 432 and Sangguniang Panlungsod Resolution 642. While the camp occupies only 22 percent of the village’s 161.8-hectare area, 90 percent of the barangay folk reside within that reservation.
Barangay officials claimed that for the past 60 years, their settlement was never until now. Their fear of eviction was confirmed on June 4 during Batinga’s presentation to Codilla of his five-year plan for the full utilization of the camp by the Army and Navy.
Barangay Captain Samuel Baldezanso accused Batinga of sowing intrigue, claiming the residents heard the camp commander accusing the homeowners’ association of being part of a squatting syndicate collecting money from residents in exchange for their continued stay in the neighborhood.
Kagawad Marilou B. Gayon, president of the homeowners’ association, said they collected money from members to be used for a parcellary survey to segregate the portion occupied by residents as part for their petition for a Presidential Proclamation to de-list that area from the military camp and reserve it for socialized housing purposes.
The association agreed last year to collect from its members P1,000 to P1,500 each for the purpose. They were able to collect more than P80,000 even if some members paid only P100 to P200 which they used for the subdivision survey and to buy boundary stones (mohon).
Gayon said she spent more than what was collected, using her own money traveling between Tacloban and Manila to process the papers. She also confirmed receiving P5,000 from resident Marilou Capuyan and issuing an unofficial receipt for the purpose.
But Batinga used that unofficial receipt as “proof” of the operation of a squatting syndicate and as basis to close the gate leading to Sitio Liberty. Gayon took offense on the tag “professional squatting syndicate” given to their association, saying its existence is legitimized by its registration at the city government’s Urban Poor Affairs Office. source
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