'Relocating AFP camp outside MM just secondary option'

MANILA, Philippines - Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta Jr. clarified yesterday that relocating the military’s general headquarters in Quezon City is just a secondary option and the main proposal is to put the offices of the major services in one camp.

Mabanta said putting the General Headquarters, Air Force, Army, and Navy offices in one camp would promote security efficiency while supporting the military’s modernization.

“It may be easier on our part to locate all the headquarters in one area than entirely moving out of the metropolis,” Mabanta said.

“The principal option is to centralize the headquarters in one area to include the major services,” he added.

Mabanta said the AFP could lease the properties to be vacated by the major service commands to generate funds for the military modernization program.

“If we move the other headquarters, it would create lots that can be used for modernization,” Mabanta said.

He said a study group composed of defense and military officials was formed to come up with the best formula for the proposals.

“This plan of moving to another location is not new. There are political, economic, security and social aspects that need to be considered in depth. It is not just the AFP who is the stakeholder here,” Mabanta said.

Mabanta said the general headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City has historical value for the military.

“All these (proposals) would serve as recommendations. The leadership will decide on them. We leave this to the leadership,” he added. 

The Air Force headquarters is located at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City, while the Navy is based at the Jose Andrada Naval Station along Roxas Boulevard, Manila. On the other hand, the Army headquarters is located at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City.

Meanwhile, the Navy has formed a new office that will look into proposals designed to tap public-private partnerships (PPP) to fund its modernization program.

Philippine Fleet commander Rear Adm. Jose Luis Alano said the Capacity Resource Development and Special Projects Branch is tasked to find possible sources of income and to study proposals related to PPP.

“Through this branch, we intend to determine what we have and what we need... This is in line with the direction set by the commander-in-chief (President Aquino),” Alano said.

The new office is under the Navy’s Resource Management Office and is headed by Capt. Augusto Iglesia.

Philippine Fleet spokesman Lt. Junior Grade Rommel Rodriguez said modernizing the Navy is necessary since the country is vulnerable to typhoons and other disasters.

“The new scheme of partnering with common stakeholders and interested parties will expand the Navy’s flexibility to generate funds without affecting its annual budget,” he said.

Rodriguez said they aim to raise funds to acquire a P5 billion multi-role vessel they can use to conduct rescue and humanitarian efforts.

Last week, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said the administration is planning to privatize Camp Aguinaldo and Camp Crame to generate funds to support its pump-priming efforts and to modernize the security forces.

He said the two camps are among the state assets that may be offered under the PPP program.

“They (camps) should probably be re-developed in order to build a better and bigger site of a consolidated military facility, and have funds to modernize the Armed Forces. All these discussions are going on right now and are in the preliminary stages,” Purisima said.

The Armed Forces Modernization Act, which took effect on Feb. 23, 1995, has given the military the opportunity to modernize in 15 years with a total fund of P331 billion. The program, however, has been delayed due to lack of financial resources.

Transparency sought

Muntinlupa City Rep. Rodolfo Biazon urged the Aquino administration to make sure the planned sale of Camp Crame and Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City would be advantageous to the government and the disposition of the proceeds should be transparent.

Biazon, chairman of the House committee on national defense and security, said the two camps are located on prime lots in Quezon City and there is a strong possibility that private developers bent on obtaining the property would try to undervalue them to the detriment of the government.

The 32.7-hectare Camp Crame houses the headquarters of the Philippine National Police (PNP) while across it from EDSA, is the 178-hectare Camp Aguinaldo where the AFP headquarters is located.

“President Aquino should make sure the government gets the most out of it,” Biazon, a former AFP chief of staff, told The STAR.

“The concerned agencies should make sure there is proper valuation of the land and the other assets and not be influenced by negative talks or reports about the government properties,” he said.

He said private developers would naturally try to “undervalue” Camp Crame and Camp Aguinaldo so they can obtain the properties at cheap prices.

Biazon said in the event the sale of the two camps would push through, the disposition of the proceeds of the sale must be clearly spelled out.

“The disposition of funds must be stated clearly,” he said, recalling the sale of Fort Bonifacio during the Ramos administration that critics said had misappropriated the proceeds of the transaction.

He said the sale and the planned transfer of the PNP and AFP headquarters to areas outside Metro Manila like Clark or Nueva Ecija would take years and meticulous planning.

He said the President would try as much as possible to conclude the sale of the camps and complete the transfer of the headquarters in the five years remaining in his term.

“This (transfer) is easier said than done. If it is a serious plan, how is it going to proceed? What would be the layout? What would be the structures? Who will pay for all that?” Biazon said.

He said there should be no gap between the sale and the transfer of the AFP and PNP headquarters for obvious reasons.

Biazon said most likely the winning bidder of the two camps would be the one that would shoulder the expenses of transferring and constructing the new headquarters as part of the deal. - With Paolo Romero