John Hay unit owners seek Marcos’ help amid evictions
BAGUIO CITY—Leaseholders of hotel units, country homes and villas who were evicted and locked out by court sheriffs in early January during the government’s takeover of Camp John Hay have turned to President Marcos for help, the Inquirer learned this week.
In a Jan. 27 letter sent to Malacañang, occupants of over 60 leased residential properties pleaded with the President to grant them continued access to their units while they defend their rights in court. They had initially sought the intervention of Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong in a Jan. 17 closed-door meeting.
The homeowners from The Forest Lodge, The Manor, John Hay Golf Estates, John Hay Forest Estates and John Hay Country Homes also asked the President to compel the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) to engage in dialogue over its supposed plan to operate The Forest Lodge and The Manor as hotels without residential units.
“We believe that their plan can be achieved without disregarding our rights as owners of our respective units,” the group said in a letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Inquirer on Wednesday.
The signatories included unit owners Erwin and Monica Carla Galang, Harvey Garreth Gundran, Keiser Rolan Gundran and Bernadette Sembrano Aguinaldo at the The Forest Lodge; Wilson Capuyan II at The Manor; Jefferson Ngie at Country Home; and Imelda Madera at Forest Cabin.
Also among the petitioners were 15 Korean investors, some of whom had attended the January meeting with Magalong.
“Non-Filipino investors and residents who chose to invest and live in our country now face similar distress, raising concerns about the protection of their rights and investments in the Philippines,” the letter stressed.
The homeowners noted that their properties represent more than just financial investments.
“For many of us, these properties are homes where we intended to spend our retirement years in peace. For others, they serve as sources of livelihood through rentals and tourism. Some of us have even exhausted our life savings to purchase and renovate these units. Now, we are being asked to ‘pack up and leave,’” they lamented.
Contractual dispute
Describing themselves as leaseholders “in good faith,” the homeowners said they were “unjustly caught in the crossfire” of a longstanding contractual dispute between the BCDA and developer Camp John Hay Development Corp. (CJHDevco)—a legal battle that was supposedly resolved by a 2015 arbitral ruling.
However, the arbitral judgment was contested in court by so-called third-party stakeholders, including the homeowners, until it was reinstated by the Supreme Court on Oct. 22, 2024, allowing the government takeover to proceed.
A message purportedly from The Forest Lodge, posted by CJH Suites Corp., stated that it had secured the services of an appraiser to conduct an inventory of the facility’s movable properties, furnishings and fixtures—excluding assets inside the homeowners’ sealed units. These units were marked as “under custodia legis” (under court custody).
CJH Suites explained that this step was taken in case the BCDA fails to resolve its issues with hotel residents, which could lead to removal of the inventory items.
A 2016 SC ruling describes CJH Suites as a “wholly owned subsidiary” of CJHDevco, formed primarily to acquire, maintain, operate and manage hotels, inns, lodging houses, restaurants, and other allied businesses.
“[The] BCDA has been urged to continue to respect and recognize your rights as hotel residents. If BCDA responds positively, then all the existing movables in the inventory will not be pulled out, allowing uninterrupted hotel operations,” CJH Suites assured unit owners in its statement.
