2 retired generals won’t vacate Jusmag

Two more retired military men still refuse to vacate their quarters at the Joint US Military Assistance Group at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City despite the implementation of the eviction order issued by the courts.

Maj. Ernesto Torres, Philippine Army spokesman, said retired Army generals Raymundo Jarque and Melchor Rosales are still occupying their assigned quarters inside the 40-hectare military housing facility meant for active military officers.

Jarque, according to Torres, has asked for a few more days of extension because his wife is reportedly sick and would wait until she recuperates before they move out.

Rosales, on the other hand, argued that his quarters are no longer government property, claiming he had spent a "significant amount of money" when the house was destroyed in a fire in 1992.

He, however, could not say how much he spent for the reconstruction, saying it was managed by his wife. He had earlier asked the Army for reimbursement.

But the Army Judge Advocate General’s Office has recommended that the Army should continue with Rosales’ eviction.

When asked if the Army would settle for a payback in order for Rosales to move out, Torres said, "The Army JAGO’s recommendation is to evict them. Under what conditions, I don’t know yet. But we are dealing with them accordingly."

Torres does not know when Rosales would be evicted.

"Our negotiations are continuous. Our people are talking to him. He has already submitted his position and the Army as of the moment is studying it," he said.

A total of 79 retired military officers have been evicted at the JUSMAG housing facility in line with a court order issued on July 14. It took another 20 days before the eviction was carried out because the occupants were able to secure a temporary restraining order.

Army chief Lt. Gen. Romeo Tolentino earlier said that they are evicting the retired officers to be fair to active duty officers.

Active officers should be accorded the privilege of using the housing facility while they are in the military service, he maintained.

In May, several retired Philippine Navy officers and their families who were evicted from their quarters at Fort Bonifacio Naval Station in Taguig City trashed their quarters in disgust before leaving.

"They literally left with the kitchen sink," one member of the Navy eviction personnel, who declined to be identified, said in amazement.

He said some of the quarters were even vandalized by their former occupants, apparently in retaliation for the eviction.

"Imagine, doors, plants and even toilet bowls — they took them with them. Even the roof gutter was loaded on the truck. And then trash was dumped inside and outside the quarters, even on the roof."

Aside from that, the retired officers left without settling their light and water bills as well as rent.

"They totally trashed their quarters," said another Navy officer, who also declined to be identified, as he looked at the empty door jambs and vandalized rooms — even the toilets — in consternation.

The retired officers, all with the Navy Officers Village Association Inc., had earlier maintained that they owned all improvements made on their quarters.

One retired officer even uprooted two grown trees that he had planted.

The association’s board of directors and members also maintained that they are the rightful owners of the area, claiming that they have the deed to the land and that the Navy, therefore, was squatting.

"It’s not us who are the squatters here, it’s the Navy," said retired Navy captain Proceso Maligalig, former spokesman for the Reform the Armed Forces Movement.

Maligalig was among 17 retired officers who were able to obtain an injunction from the court preventing the navy from evicting them.

But on eviction day, the defiant retired officers were no match for the 1,300-strong Navy and Marine evictions teams, backed by fully armed troops.