AFP studying lease of Camp Aguinaldo

From Malaya Business Insight (Dec 4): AFP studying lease of Camp Aguinaldo

ARMED Forces chief Gen. Rey Leonardo Guerrero has ordered a study on the possible lease out of Camp Aguinaldo, the military’s general headquarters in Quezon City, and other military camps to raise funds for soldiers.

AFP public affairs chief Col. Edgard Arevalo said the study would consider the strategic value of these camps.

The lease was broached by President Duterte last month.

The deed of donation for Camp Aguinaldo and the adjacent Camp Crame, the headquarters of the Philippine National Police, states that the property should be returned to original owners if the government will sell or use it for other purposes. The land of the two camps was donated by the Ortigas family during the Commonwealth, solely for military use.
Duterte, during a visit to the Army’s Special Operations Command in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija on November 22, said leasing out Camp Aguinaldo would raise billions of pesos for the soldiers. He also earlier raised the idea of leasing out the Army headquarters in Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City, and idle lands inside military camps throughout the country.
“We understand what the President said and his intention why he mentioned that recommendation. That’s why the chief of staff has ordered to study this particular proposal or idea of the President,” said Arevalo.

Arevalo said the AFP chief ordered the study so that the military can “strike a good balance between commercial value and strategic value” of these camps.

A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said leasing Camp Aguinaldo is a “thorny issue,” noting that a large part of the camp was donated by the Ortigas family solely for the use of the Armed Forces.

“It’s a complicated issue. That’s a thorny issue because there is a clause in the (donation) contract that it shall be for the use of the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” the source said.

“So it might not be possible to sell or lease. It is of my opinion that if it is not going to be used by the Armed Forces, we have to return the donated land to them. Leasing the camp will have some legal implications,” he also said.

The previous administration also considered leasing part of the 178-hectare Camp Aguinaldo to raise funds for the modernization of the Armed Forces. The plan was, however, overtaken by events.

In 2011, then Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said technical working groups were looking into legal issues that may arise from leasing out the military installations.

The Ramos administration has sold military lands, also supposedly for the benefit of soldiers and policemen. Republic Act 7227, or the Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992, paved the way for the privatization of Fort Bonifacio and Villamor Air Base and military installations in Subic and Clark. Questions have been raised as to whether government has followed the allotment scheme for proceeds of the sale.

http://www.malaya.com.ph/business-news/news/afp-studying-lease-camp-aguinaldo