FORT RAMON
MAGSAYSAY, Nueva Ecija – The leadership of the Army’s 7th Infantry
Division housed inside this military reservation is proposing that the camp be
covered by the development plans of the Bases Conversion Development Authority
which is crafting a master plan for military camps in the country.
Brig. Gen. Vic Castro, acting 7th
ID commanding general, said that the reservation, originally spanning 73,000
hectares but is now down to only 45,837 hectares, is not covered by the master
plan of the BCDA.
“I hope that this camp be included in
the base development plan of the BCDA so that its development can be
fast-tracked,” Castro said.
He said if that is the case, the
military reservation – located 20 kilometers apart from Cabanatuan City and the
provincial capital Palayan City - can become a hub for economic activities
given its vast potentials.
Castro made the proposal even as the
BCDA has earmarked P120 million for a master plan for the partial development
of Camp Aguinaldo and other military camps.
BCDA president and chief executive
officer Arnel Paciano Casanova said they are talking with the Department of
National Defense and the Armed Forces in securing the survey and title for the
lands as well as preparing the master plan where it needs to invest in
infrastructure in the long-term and the various camps into revenue-generating
projects that would provide funding for the modernization of the military.
The BCDA is mandated to transform
former military bases into alternative productive civilian use.
Among those being considered for sale,
lease or upgrading by the BCDA are the 33,220-hectare Camp Peralta in Capiz,
the 1,925-hectare Camp O’Donnel in Tarlac and the 42,000-hectare Camp Kibaritan
in Bukidnon, all owned by the AFP.
The goal is to help modernize these
camps, which have idle or unused areas that could be tapped fro either
redevelopment for mixed-use purposes or to create livelihood in the countryside,
particularly for camps located in the provinces.
Castro said the reservation, which
houses the general headquarters of the 7th ID covering 13 provinces
in Luzon, was visited recently by DND Undersecretary Fernando Manalo to look
into possible economic opportunities inside the camp.
“We are open to future projects here
at Fort Magsaysay,” he said, adding that initially, projects on tap include the
setting up of a 3,000-hectare bamboo plantation and plantation for jathropa.
Castro
said one of the key components of the development of the camp is its
conversion into a premier tourism destination. He said the provincial
government of Nueva Ecija led by Gov. Aurelio Umali and its provincial tourism
office has pledged to help in its promotion as a tourist spot in the province.
During the term of then-commanding
general and now Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) commanding general, Lt. Gen.
Gregorio Pio Catapang, he proposed various activities to enhance tourism inside
the camp among them wall climbing, trekking, hiking, mountain biking, camping,
motocross riding, 4x4 offroad-driving, horseback-riding and water sports
activities such scuba diving, wind surfing, jet skiing, beach volleyball and
parasailing in the camp’s coastal areas in Dingalan, Aurora.
Among the reservation’s tourist
attractions are the historic Aquino-Diokno shrine, the Heroes Memorial, the
Pahingahan complex, the golf course, the Kaugnay clubhouse, the Mount Taclang
Damulag and the camp airfield.
The shrine was where President Aquino’s
late father, former senator Benigno “Ninoy6” Aquino and ex-senator Jose Diokno
were placed under solitary confinement from March 12 to April 11,1973 after
nearly six months of detention in Fort Bonifacio. – Manny Galvez
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