AFP officers deny benefiting from Fort Boni condo project

Two of the five ranking military officials reported to be among the first beneficiaries of a housing program at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City vehemently denied owning units in the housing project meant for homeless military personnel.

Army chief Maj. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon and Southern Luzon Command (Solcom) commander Lt. Gen. Pedro Cabuay Jr. refuted reports in The STAR that they were beneficiaries of the housing project.

In a telephone interview, Esperon said that he was surprised to read that he now owns a unit at Bonifacio Heights, a socialized housing project covering seven hectares that is being jointly developed by the Department of National Defense, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the government’s housing agencies.

"My wife confronted me: With whom was I (playing) house (with) there?", an amused Esperon told reporters.

Development of the area, which was specifically set aside in November last year by President Arroyo for AFP personnel, is now being undertaken by a private developer, DM Consunji Homes, a housing subsidiary of construction giant DMCI that built notable landmarks such as the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Rockwell Center, Makati Shangri-La Hotel and Ayala Land’s Ayala Tower One in Makati City.

Speaking on behalf of newly retired AFP chief general Efren Abu, Esperon said Abu had indeed acquired a unit as his retirement home and conceded that the housing units are beyond the means of what ordinary soldiers can afford.

Cabuay, on the other hand, protested the inclusion of his name in the report, saying it not only spoiled his day but also caused "untold discomfort" to him and his family.

"I categorically deny that I am one of the beneficiaries of the Bonifacio Heights (project)," Cabuay stated in a letter to The STAR yesterday.

He added he would not allow anyone "to brazenly drag my name (into the mud) and besmirch the reputation I have taken pains and great care to build all these years."

AFP Public Information Office chief Lt. Col. Buenaventura Pascual said the AFP had a solid housing program for its personnel and boasted this was the first such project in AFP history.

Pascual rejected the claim in the STAR’s report that the AFP’s off-base housing at The Fort was merely for the top brass.

He maintained that the AFP has so far assisted about 7,371 personnel — 2,653 officers and 4,728 enlisted men and women — in owning a house.

"Plenty of units are still available at Camp Riego de Dios, Tanza, Cavite and Bonifacio Heights, Fort Bonifacio. There are 1,343 units in Tanza with about 476 pre-qualified applicants while 1,750 condominium units at Bonifacio Heights have 442 applicants, all field and company grade officers except for about 75 enlisted personnel," he said.

Pascual added the AFP also had another off-base project known as the "Kawal Kalinga" program at Camp Aguino in Tarlac, that would soon be replicated in other off-base areas.

Under the program, the AFRP will grant each beneficiary (enlisted personnel only) a 100-square-meter lot and a 20-meter-square house. Each house costs a minimum of P50,000, which can be shouldered under a 50-50 cost sharing scheme with the Kawal Kalinga Foundation (P25,000) and an enlisted personnel-beneficiary loan (P25,000).

In an interview last Saturday, several active and retired military officials complained that the ongoing housing project at The Fort would only benefit financially secure officers.

The group claimed the monthly amortization for a 24-square-meter top-floor condominium unit of P7,621.39, even if payable within 20 years, could not possibly be afforded by enlisted personnel, most of whom, if not renting homes, are living on lots allocated by the government for soldiers.

"Even junior officers… they could not possibly afford to buy a unit because of their low salary scale," the group said.

They claimed that Abu, AFP chief Lt. Gen. Generoso Senga, Esperon and Cabuay were among the first beneficiaries of the AFP’s housing project in The Fort.

Meanwhile, another group of active and retired officers, whose houses were located beside Bonifacio Heights in The Fort, decried yesterday the continued attempts by the DMCI and the AFP to evict them from their homes.

According to retired Navy Commander Hernani Jover, chairman of Lot 2, Fort Bonifacio Community Association, Inc., his own house was demolished yesterday by the AFP’s Task Force Bantay, upon the supervision of the DMCI.

Jover claimed that the demolition occurred even though ownership of the lot — reserved by Mrs. Arroyo for soldiers and their families — was still subject to court litigation.

Jover said they are considering going to court.