2 ex-Navy chiefs to leave Bonifacio living quarters

Two of the retired Navy chiefs occupying part of the Philippine Navy reservation at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City took the initiative to leave ahead of the seven-day deadline for them to vacate the premises.

Former flag-officers-in-command (FOICs) Vice Admirals Victorino Hingco and Ernesto de Leon both volunteered to surrender their quarters in response to the final notice of eviction served to them by Navy chief Vice Admiral Mateo Mayuga.

"The two former FOICs have signified their intention to the Navy leadership (last Monday) to voluntarily leave their housing units," Navy spokesman Capt. Geronimo Malabanan said yesterday.

Malabanan said Hingco even offered his unit to Navy Inspector General Rear Admiral Rogelio Calunsag, whose quarters were gutted by fire the other day.

De Leon’s 11-A Quarters, on the other hand, will be given to a qualified applicant, Malabanan said.

He said the Navy top brass has yet to receive word from its former chief, retired Vice Admiral Mariano Dumancas, about the offer to yield Officer’s Quarters 14-B.

Malabanan said De Leon and Hingco agreed to the voluntary eviction to set an example for other retired Navy officers who have yet to answer the eviction notice.

Hingco, Malabanan and Dumancas were among the 56 retired Navy officers served with final eviction notices to vacate their quarters within seven days.

The retired officers and their families were given until Saturday to leave the premises or face forcible eviction.

"We expect other retired officers to follow," Malabanan said.

He admitted though the possibility that some of the 56 retired officers will seek legal refuge and question the eviction notice against them.

Aside from the 56 retired officers, the Navy also wants to evict 42 other officers for "overstaying" their units at the 20-hectare property in Fort Bonifacio.

The 42 occupants, led by retired Commodores Eduardo Domingo and Rodolfo Simon, were able to secure titles for the land they have been occupying.

Domingo and Simon formed the Naval Officers Village Homeowners Inc. and questioned the eviction order against them in 1993.

Their group was able to secure an injunction from the CA in 1994 for their continued stay.

The government has argued the land titles secured by NOVHI and its officials are spurious since the disputed area is meant to be occupied by those still in the active service.

Navy records showed the retired officers have been staying in single-detached quarters while 25 other officers are staying in duplex-style quarters.

The Navy said the retired officers have so far accumulated over P7 million in unpaid electricity and water bills.

Even after the government appealed the ruling before the Supreme Court which sustained the CA’s injunction order in 2004, the dispute over the land is still pending before the Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 141.

Aside from Dumancas, Hingco and De Leon, among the set of retired ranking Navy officers facing eviction from their quarters are retired Lt. Generals Edgardo Espinosa and Emmanuel Teodosio, Rear Admirals Pio Garido, Napoleon Baylon, Octavio Dauz, Eriberto Varona, Manuel de Leon and Guerero de Guzman and retired Maj. Gen. Guillermo Ruiz;

Retired Commodores Eduardo Tolentino, Constancio Velasco, Rene Leandro Ebro, Alberto Orevillo, Dario Fajardo, Isidro Julito Casillan, Ruperto Andaya, Nicanor Hernandez, Arturo Capada, Adolf Borje, Danilo Pizarro, Antonio Suratos, Pablo Perez, Jose Divinagracia, Justo Manlongat, Jacinto Aquino, Elonor Padre, Lamberto Torres, Jose Agudelo, Romeo Meana, Ruben Espejo and Bayani Matic;

Retired Marine Brig. Generals Eduardo Cabanlig, Persival Subala, Antonio Villamor, Salvador Flores and Romeo Daranciang;

Retired Marine colonels Emmanuel Gloria, Valentin Santos and Pablo Viray, retired Navy captains Walter Briones, Rafael Vilches, Jesus Regala, Renato Santos, Abraham Din, Daniel Delgado, Flor Antonio Paginag, Bernardo Patino, Baltazar Regalado, Jose Garcia, Willy Vergara, Marcos Tolentino and retired police Chief Superintendent Merardo Abaya.

The Navy also named retired naval officers with huge outstanding and unsettled water and electricity bills.

The Navy named Espinosa as having P132,810 in unsettled bills; Ebro with P154,502; Casillan with P215,626.8; Borje with P119,004.97; and Viray with P134,979.

Five retired officers who have unpaid electric and water bills exceeding P50,000 are Orevillo with P65,296; Perez with P95,252; Meana with P100,100; Matic with P83.589; and Baltazar with P56,000.

Malabanan said the Navy has formed a task group to enforce the eviction order if the retired officers fail to heed the warning.

The task group is composed of Navy and Marine units based in Manila and Cavite, with cadets from the Naval Education and Training Command (NETC).

Vice President Noli de Castro, on the other hand, called on the retired officers not to take chances in occupying state-owned properties or face eviction.

De Castro, concurrent chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), called on them to seek new quarters under the government’s housing program. - With Pia Lee-Brago