Former Baguio Mayor and Rep. Mauricio Domogan called his banning from playing at the Camp John Hay imposed by the Bases Conversion Development Authority as “totally unjust and unfair.”
“I have been supportive of CJH development since after its turn-over from the Americans and helped stop the opposition,” said Domogan in a press conference he held after hearing that he was banned from the golf course from his daughter, Janice, also a lawyer.
“I played there last Saturday and was amazed by the news brought by my daughter today that I had been banned,” said Domogan.
Domogan along with lawyer Federico Mandapat, Jr., a former city councilor, were among the three members banned by the BCDA for filing a class suit against the BCDA to protect their rights as John Hay golf club members.
The third, Marciano Garcia, a contractor and also an avid golfer, had already retracted and had his name removed from the class suit which was originally filed by 10 club members. With Garcia’s retraction, only Domogan and Mandapat, the chairman of golf membership committee, remain as complainants in the case.
Domogan said he helped direct the development of the former American base with the passage of Resolution No. 362 in 1994 that set the 19 conditionalities for the city’s endorsement of the development of John Hay which the BCDA used in having it leased to a developer and bid out in 1996.
When John Hay was leased to the Sobrepena -led CJHDevCo in 1997, Domogan saw to it that locals – Baguio and Benguet golfers – get to be members of the Jack Nicklaus refurbished golf course.
Domogan said that in filing the class suit, he just wants to defend the right of the members, most of them are now “patrons” who will get the same rights as members but will be as such for six months during the transitory management.
He said that he was asked to retract from pursuing the case but “I can’t, in my conscience, agree to that,” the mayor for 18 years and congressman for nine.
Domogan added that the employees must also be protected as well as the caddies, whose sole livelihood is to carry golf bags and clubs of players.
He said that to withdraw the case, the “members, the employees and caddies must be absorbed. That is all.”
“To withdraw the case, there must be a written document to make it clear to recognize security of members, and absorb the employees and caddies,” said Domogan.
“It was a surprise that the BCDA banned us from entering the golf club,” he added.
In December last year, then CJH Golf Club Judson Eustaquio said that they are not with the CJHDevCo and is an independent locator within the former base.
In a release, CJH Golf wrote that the golf club has first, a direct and independent relationship with BCDA; legal protection under the Securities and Exchange Commission; and, that it’s not party to the arbitration proceedings.
He also said that all events planned for 2025 will proceed as planned including the Chairman’s Cup which is expected to take place in March. They are also preparing for the 75th edition of the Fil-Am Invitational Golf Tournament in November and December.
Mandapat, who is also a lawyer the Manor at John Hay and Forest Lodge, said that the hotels are also separate entities from the CJHDevCo. NLMonitor