Oban opposes privatization of Camp Aguinaldo

The leadership of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is not inclined to support the Aquino administration’s plan to privatize Camp Aguinaldo and other prime government properties to finance key economic programs to include the modernization of the military.

“As far as Camp Aguinaldo is concerned, as I have said, this has to be driven by a strategy. As of now, our efforts is not to sell [Camp Aguinaldo],” the Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Gen. Eduardo Oban Jr., said Friday.

Instead, Oban added, they wanted the 178-hectare Camp Aguino, which houses the Armed Forces general headquarters, to be the headquarters of the three major services, the Philippine Army, the Philippine Air Force and the Philippine Navy.

“We will not sell Camp Aguinaldo. We wanted it to be the lone headquarters by co-locating all these headquarters [of the Air Force, Army and Navy] with the general headquarters so as to make the system more efficient,” Oban said. “Only one big headquarters with each of the three major services having a distinct function.”

Oban said that the privatization of prime government properties would be a big help to the modernization of the Armed Forces but not at the expense of Camp Aguinaldo.

The former Armed Forces spokesman, Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta, Jr., had also said earlier that the lot that would be vacated by the three major services may be allotted to other purposes such as privatization.

The second option, Mabanta added, was to move out of Camp Aguinaldo and transfer to other military facilities outside of Metro Manila.

However, Mabanta said that if the military had its way, it wanted its general headquarters to remain in Metro Manila.

Mabanta has stressed though that even if they wanted to stay in Camp Aguinaldo, it was not for the military but for the national leadership to decide.

The Armed Forces camps outside of Metro Manila are Clark Air Base in Pampanga, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Camp Aquino in Tarlac City, Camp Capinpin in Tanay, the Marine Base Ternate in Cavite and the Naval Base Heracleo Alano in Sangley Point in Cavite City.

Department of Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima had earlier raised the idea of privatizing Camp Aquinaldo and as well as Camp Crame, the general headquarters of the Philippine National Police, among other government prime properties in the metropolis.

Purisima said that he had initially discussed the matter with Department of National Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, who was reportedly supportive of the idea that Camps Aguinaldo and Crame should be resettled somewhere else.

It may be recalled that in 1995, Congress passed the AFP Modernization Act allocating P331 billion for the procurement of new military hardware spread over 15 years.

However, only P28.9 billion of that amount has been utilized to date by the Armed Forces. The modernization law expired last year.

By William B. Depasupil