BCDA offers to help prepare military base dev’t plan

The Bases Conversion and Development Authority is willing to formulate a comprehensive bases development program for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to ensure the proper utilization of military lands.

Although not part of its mandate, BCDA president and chief executive Arnel Paciano Casanova said the government agency wanted to help the AFP maximize the potential of the large tracts of military-owned land nationwide.

“We want to help the AFP in their camp development. The AFP is being taken advantage of by professional squatters and land grabbers. Right now, there’s no specific bases development plan for the AFP. We do understand that because it’s not their core competency, so we want to help them in this area,” Casanova told reporters on Monday.

Casanova said the BCDA could come up with asset disposal and development schemes, similar to what it had implemented for Bonifacio Global City and Newport City.

One of the military camps that could be developed under this plan, he said, is Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, the largest military reservation in the country.

“There are still a lot of idle lands there. We want to use them as a tool for national development,” Casanova said. “We want to come up with a master plan to determine the best use for the military’s land. It doesn’t have to be for industrial development all the time. It can be for agriculture or tourism.”

The formulation of a comprehensive military bases development plan, however, was not for the BCDA to decide, as it was only mandated to dispose of and develop specific military bases. The decision would have to come from the Department of National Defense and the President.

Casanova said other military camps that could be developed could be added to BCDA’s mandate via a presidential proclamation.

“We’re ready to take on the disposal and development of other military camps. We’re not exactly asking for it, but we’re capable, we’re open,” BCDA chairman Felicito Payumo said.

In the first seven months, BDCA remitted about P2 billion to the National Treasury for the AFP Modernization Fund. This amount came from the net proceeds from non-sale transactions, such as lease and joint-venture deals, related to former military camps in Metro Manila.

In July alone, BCDA’s remittance to the Treasury amounted to P19.5 million. It will be remitting another P36 million by next week.