Palace: PBBM veto of Baguio charter revision preserves BCDA powers

FILE: Session Road, Baguio City. (Photo By Patrickroque01/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

By Darryl John Esguerra, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. vetoed a bill seeking to amend certain provisions of the Revised Charter of Baguio City due to inconsistencies with existing law and jurisprudence, as well as its possible adverse effects on the power of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).

In a press briefing in Malacañang Monday, Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro explained the President’s decision, which was formalized in a veto message sent to Congress.

“I am constrained to veto the bill as it is inconsistent with law and jurisprudence and it may endanger or prejudice the authority previously granted to the BCDA,” Castro said, reading the President’s veto message.

“Kinikilala po ng Pangulo ang karapatan at authority ng BCDA patungkol po dito kaya po na-veto po ang [bill] (The President recognized the rights and authority of the BCDA regarding this matter, which is why the [bill] was vetoed,” Castro added.

The measure, titled An Act Amending Sections 23 and 52 and Repealing Section 55 of Republic Act No. 11689, otherwise known as the Revised Charter of the City of Baguio, sought to modify certain administrative and land management provisions of the city’s charter.

Its amendments include the removal of a provision requiring Baguio to transmit all ordinances to the Benguet Provincial Board for approval; exclusion of Camp John Hay Management from Baguio’s Special Land Use Committee; and repeal Section 55 of the revised charter, which expanded the land area under the BCDA from 570 hectares to 625 hectares.

The BCDA, a government agency under the Office of the President, manages former military bases and other properties, including parcels of land in Baguio City previously used by the United States military and now subject to conversion for civilian use.

The revised Baguio City Charter, which replaced the 1909 charter, lapsed into law in 2022.