Reacting to reports that the two camps, the site of the EDSA people power revolt in 1986, would be sold to commercial buyers, Rep. Herminigildo Mandanas (2nd dist., Batangas) said the camps were “symbols of Filipinos’ innate love for freedom and liberty.”

Mandanas, chair of the committee on ways and means, said he will file a bill declaring Camp Aguinaldo, which houses the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) headquarters, and Camp Crame, of the Philippine National Police, as “historical sites” to spare them from commercialization.

Other congressmen, however, welcomed Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima’s announced plan to use the proceeds from the sale to finance other government projects.

Rep. Rodolfo Albano (1st dist., Isabela) said the sale was “most welcome” if the proceeds would be used to speed up the modernization of the AFP and the police force.

Albano said the proceeds of the sale could also be used to finance infrastructure projects, school buildings and housing for underprivileged families, among others.

Freedom parks

Party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino (Kabataaan) had another idea. He said the government should transform the camps into “freedom parks” since EDSA (Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue) was the site of two people power revolutions.

Purisima wants to sell not only Camp Aguinaldo and Camp Crame but also other prime government properties, among them, the 40-ha compound of the Department of Health in Cebu, the 343-ha property of the New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa City, the 26,000-ha Iwahig Penal Colony and the Davao Penal Colony.

He said defense and military officials had already agreed to develop a better and much bigger site for a consolidated military facility.

Enrile urges caution

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, one of the leaders of the 1986 revolt against the Marcos dictatorship at Camp Aguinaldo in 1986, however, urged caution in proceeding with the plan.

Enrile said the move was fraught with legal and financial questions.

Enrile said as far as he knew, Aguinaldo and Crame were donated by private individuals solely for military and police use. If these properties were privatized, ownership would revert to the original owners, including the Ortigas family, he said.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte, speaking over state-run dzRB radio on Saturday, clarified that only certain portions and not all of the property housing the two camps were being considered for privatization.

P55 billion possible

According to a real estate official familiar with the issue, about half a century ago, Ortigas & Co., the family-owned firm which used to own vast tracts of land in the area, donated to the government 34 hectares with so-called “reversion rights” (26 ha of Aguinaldo and 8 ha of Crame).

“The rest of the areas totaling 185 ha were duly paid for [by the government],” said the realtor, who asked not to be named.

The portions of the camps that the government has complete ownership over may net it as much as P55.5 billion under prevailing market prices, the realtor told the Inquirer.

He said the estimated real estate value of both camps was based on a P30,000-per-square-meter estimate of surrounding properties, assuming that the camps would be used for commercial purposes.

Aguinaldo has a total land area of 178 ha, while Crame has 41 ha, for a total of 219 ha.

The official said earlier proposals were to relocate the camps to Tanay, Rizal, where the government owns ample land.

AFP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta Jr. said they had indeed been discussing ways to fund the military’s modernization, including the sale or lease of its prime properties.

But he dismissed the option of completely moving out of the two camps.

“We want a general headquarters within the metropolis or in the capital,” he said.

Cynthia Balana/TJ Burgonio, Phil. Daily Inquirer