Baguio City Council demands BCDA settle P225M debt

BAGUIO CITY — The Baguio City Council has called on the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) to immediately settle its debt of P225,451,951.68 to the city government.

In their resolution (City Council Resolution No. 48-2025) passed on January 20, 2025, the city council members asserted that there are no longer any legal obstacles preventing the fulfillment of BCDA’s obligations considering that the dispute between BCDA and Camp John Hay Development Corporation (CJHDevCo) has been resolved with finality by the Supreme Court.

The legal basis for imposing BCDA’s financial obligations to the city government is found in Sections 9 and 10 of City Council Resolution No. 362-1194 which set 19 conditionalities for the formulation of the master development plan by BCDA for Camp John Hay.

Section 9 (Condition No. 9) mandates that BCDA provide an equitable revenue-sharing arrangement, where the city government receives 3% of the gross income from operations within the John Hay Special Economic Zone (JHSEZ).

Additionally, 1% should be allocated to a community development fund jointly administered by the city government and BCDA.

This means that BCDA should allocate a total of 4% of the gross income from operations within the JHSEZ under Section 9 (Condition No. 9) in favor of Baguio City.

In addition to this revenue sharing, Section 10 (Condition No. 10) specifies that BCDA must allocate 25% of its lease rentals or 30% of its net income from its operations within JHSEZ, whichever is higher.

Under City Council Resolution No. 48-2025, BCDA is asked to pay P56,843,842.08 for its share in the gross income (Condition 9) and P168,608,109.60 (Condition 10) for the remaining balance of additional income due to the city.

The total amount paid by BCDA for Condition No. 10 (25% lease rental share) was P238,620,468.00.

However, the actual amount to be remitted was P407,228,577.60, leaving an outstanding balance of P168 million.

This indebtedness was computed based on CJHDevCo’s lease payments to BCDA which is significantly different from the P817 million outstanding balance calculated by the City Treasurer’s Office up to 2016 based on the terms of the lease agreement between BCDA and CJHDevCo.

These amounts to be received by the city government from BCDA may even increase once the City Treasury Office completes its inventory of businesses not registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) within Camp John Hay’s Special Economic Zone.

The city council has set a dialogue with BCDA in February of this year to further tackle various issues including the latter’s 225-M debt.

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