Business as usual at CJH golf club VAV SC ruling

BAGUIO CITY (December 19, 2024) -- The Camp John Hay golf club said business is usual to them clearing out the final SC ruling upholding the 2015 arbitral decision to evict the private developer Camp John Hay Development Corp. (CJHDevCo) from the 247-hectare Special Economic Zone it leased from the state-run Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) has no effect on its operation.

The Golf Club “is not a mere sub-lessee of CJHDEvCo, but holds a direct and separate contractual agreement with the BCDA and is independent of the lease agreement between the (the two parties in that arbitral ruling),” CJH Golf Club general manager Judson D. Eustaquio pointed out Thursday.

Eustaquio added that it is the BCDA that conceived and mandated the creation of a separate entity (i.e. the Golf Club), to operate a golf course and issue golf memberships.

There are at least 1039 shareholders of the golf club, which just turned 25 years old this year, Eustaquio said.

Each of the shareholders issued SEC-registered membership certificates valid until 2047, meaning the golf club can use (BCDA’s) parcels of land until 2047.

The golf club’s situation is different from the situation of the Leisure Hotel Corporation, a management corporation handling the operation of the locators inside the SEZ at John Hay ---The Manor Camp John Hay, The Forest Lodge Camp John Hay and the CAP-John Hay Trade and Cultural Center.

On Wednesday, Camp John Hay Leisure Incorporated hoped a smooth transition of the management of 247-hectare leased area back to BCDA to protect more than 400 employees that could potentially be affected by the return of the leased property back.

Ramon Cabrera, general manager of the Leisure Hotel Corporation said they hope that “the employees are not affected by the (SC) decision,” Cabrera said, although earlier on Tuesday

 BCDA President Joshua Bingcang assured they are willing to forge agreements with all stakeholders.

Eustaquio further assured their members and stakeholders that their operations will continue and that the Golf Club remains committed to “supporting the rights of its members and will exhaust all legal remedies available to safeguard these rights.”