Lawmakers caution government on sale of police, military camps

MANILA, Philippines - Senators cautioned the Aquino administration yesterday on its plan to privatize camps Aguinaldo and Crame, which cover more than 200 hectares of prime land.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said the government might run into legal trouble if it pushes through with the sale in haste.

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, for his part, asked, “Where will they relocate the two camps? That will also entail expenses for the government.”

Enrile said the same proposal fizzled out during the presidency of Fidel Ramos because the deeds of donation for the two camps clearly specify that the properties should only be for military use. 

“That’s a good project but it should be thoroughly studied,” Enrile said over dwIZ radio.

He said the two properties should be “reverted back to the owners” if used for other purposes, based on the deed of donation.

Camp Crame, located on EDSA, is the headquarters of the Philippine National Police. Camp Aguinaldo, which is across Camp Crame also on EDSA, is the general headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Camp Aguinaldo covers 178 hectares while the PNP camp is about 40 hectares.

“There is a need to study the legal and financial aspects of the issue before privatization is pushed through,” Enrile said.

Sen. Francis Escudero, chairman of the Senate committee on national defense and security, said government should be specific on how it planned to sell the two camps.

“The government should go slow with respect to pronouncements on the sale of camps or other government assets absent a clear roadmap, timetable and guidelines as to how to go about it so as to avoid any uncertainty with respect to our men in uniform,” Escudero said.

Escudero said that in every privatization effort, the government should always consider that the “audience is not only the prospective bidders but those who would also be affected or displaced thereby.”

Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III also voiced concern over the legal implication of the planned privatization.

He also said the government might have to spend more in relocating the headquarters of the national police and the military to the provinces.

“Hinay hinay tayo dyan (Let’s go slow on it) because the lands were donated by prominent families. There is a need to consult the estates of the families who donated,” Sen. Gregorio Honasan, chairman of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs, said.

He suggested that the issue be discussed first during the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) which President Aquino is convening this month.

“We have to start to look into the issues pertaining legal, constitutional acts that created both camps,” Honasan said.

“This has constitutional and legal (aspects). This plan must be presented to Congress. This should be presented to the legislative and judiciary to address possible legal and constitutional issues. We want to ask the proponents of the proposal,” said Honasan, who was an aide to then defense minister Enrile during the 1986 EDSA uprising.

“The AFP and the PNP cannot look into the possible implementation because it is a matter to be discussed among the executive, legislative and the judiciary. And they will just implement when these three branches decide, and the AFP will follow. I suggest that the most prudent thing to do is wait for the decision,” Honasan said.

It was Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima who announced the plan to sell the two camps as part of the administration efforts to raise revenues and address its yawning deficit.

The budget gap is projected to hit P290 billion this year or 3.3 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

President Aquino said part of the proceeds of the proposed privatization would be used to modernize the AFP.

“This can really help achieve the aim of modernization in the soonest possible time,” Aquino said.

Historical sites

A lawmaker wants Camp Crame and Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City declared as historical sites to prevent them from being sold by the government to raise funds.

Batangas Rep. Hermilando Mandanas, chairman of the House committee on ways and means, said he would file a bill declaring the two camps as historic sites and “symbols of Filipinos’ innate love for freedom and liberty, embodiment of the ideals and aspirations rekindled by the EDSA Revolution.”

Mandanas said the bloodless revolution that toppled the Marcos dictatorship was “born in those camps.”

He said that with their rich past, camps Crame and Aguinaldo “should not be subject to the commerce of man.”

But Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano said the privatization plan should be welcomed if it would pave the way for the modernization of the AFP and the PNP.

The proceeds from the sale may also be used to finance infrastructure projects, including school buildings and housing projects for underprivileged families.

Not yet final

Purisima, however, said nothing is final yet regarding the proposed sale of the two camps.

“We are at very preliminary stages of studying options. It is still premature to talk about proceeds,” Purisima said. It was he who bared the potential $100 million windfall from the proposed sale during last week’s traditional vin d’ honneur in Malacañang.

Purisima said the private sector may redevelop the two camps.

The two properties are among the various assets the government may dispose of under its Public-Private Partnership Program.

“They (camps) should probably be re-developed in order to build a better and bigger site of a consolidated military facility, and modernize the armed forces and have funds. All these discussions are going on right now and are in preliminary stages,” Purisima earlier said.

Sizeable portions of the camps represented donations from real estate giant Ortigas & Co.

Other assets being eyed for privatization are the 343-hectare property of the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City, the Iwahig Penal Colony in Palawan and the Davao Penal Colony.

Boost for modernization

AFP spokesman Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta said the planned privatization would help the military modernize.

“Bear in mind the AFP needs much needed funds to boost modernization effort. As we move from (addressing) internal to external threat, we need big-ticket items. This will be realized if we have funds and these (privatizations) are the options we are looking at,” Mabanta said.

“These are being considered (privatization efforts) but the end of it still needs approval of the leadership and may require legislation,” he said.

He also said that proceeds from the sale of Camp Aguinaldo may also be used to pay pension arrears of military retirees.

Mabanta earlier said only a portion of 178-hectare Camp Aguinaldo comprised donated lands. Records also showed that only 8.2 hectares of Camp Crame represented donation from Ortigas and Co.

Being considered as a possible new home of the AFP general headquarters aside from Clark Field in Pampanga and the sprawling Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, are Camp Servillano Aquino in Tarlac, the Marine training center in Ternate, the naval base in Sangley Point and Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal.

Meanwhile, the PNP is not keen on moving its headquarters outside Metro Manila, saying “traditionally police station is located in the heart of the community.”

But PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz, however, stressed that they would abide by any decision of the national leadership.

“We will respect the decision of our leaders (on the possible transfer of the headquarters of the national police) but traditionally police station must be in the heart of the community,” Cruz said. “If the police station is not in the heart of the community, it will take time for us to respond to the needs of the community,” he said.

Cruz said former PNP chief Avelino Razon Jr. had also proposed the privatization of Camp Crame.

“The plan did not push through because it was not acceptable to stakeholders, including the Ortigas clan who donated the lot to PNP,” he added.

“There is a clause there that you have to return the land to Ortigas and not sell it,” Cruz said. with Paolo Romero, Iris Gonzales, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Jaime Laude