Conflict and confusion.

These fill the air not only in the capital where the impeachment trial of  Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato C. Corona is being held but also in the country’s summer capital which until recently had been out of the peering public eye.

While Metro Manilans are closely watching the daily proceedings at the Senate impeachment court and trading opinions at the end of each day’s session, Baguio community and non-governmental organization leaders are agonizing over an apparent attempt by some quarters to muddle two major issues now raging in that city, Ped Xing has learned.

First is the protest over a planned expansion of the SM Mall. Second is the threat of an armed forcible take-over of Camp John Hay by the Bases Conversion Development Authority a la Poro Point, the former Wallace Air base in San Fernando, La Union.

The Baguio community appeared peeved over apparent attempts by these quarters to portray the protests by environmental groups as an attack on the development of John Hay.

This is misleading. What environmental crusaders in Baguio are recently up against is a reported plan to cut down pine trees to expand the facilities of SM Baguio. John Hay development is not the target.

The local community is worried that innocent third parties are being used by whoever is trying to confuse the two issues. Even sincere pro-environment advocates like popular photographer Wig Tysman appears to have been unfairly misled.

Some unscrupulous parties have reportedly tried to use Tysman’s  Facebook site to confuse the issues. Fortunately, Wig has corrected the misimpressions that his popular page may have created.

It should be understood that keeping these two issues separate are very important to the people of Baguio. Both are close to their hearts. Making them clear to all other parties is essential to a better understanding of the situation. 

Let’s beak them down to their simplest forms: Ecology and economy.

The SM Baguio issue has to do with environment, and the John Hay issue has to do with their fear that the armed take-over mulled by BCDA president Arnel Casanova could cause prolonged chaos and drive high-end tourists away.

SM Baguio is the environment issue; John Hay is a purely business conflict issue. The people of Baguio want the distinction clear. And they want to make sure they are not being used by shadowy interests with shady agenda who want to muddle up the debate on these issues.

Last Ped Xing heard, there was “uneasy calm” prevailing over Baguio after that city’s Regional Trial Court extended a temporary restraining order from 72 hours to 17 days. Judge Mona Lisa Tiongson-Tabora ordered Casanova to “desist from committing any act tending to wrest control and/or possession of the property subject of the case”.

This is decidedly a welcome development. But the calm remains “uneasy” because the Baguio community says it believes the BCDA is capable of using “extreme force” to accomplish a take-over goal.

And the Baguio community cannot be faulted for entertaining such fears. Why? Because the use of such force was done in Poro Point a few years back. If we remember it right, private armed groups forcibly took over the operations of the seaport from a private investor which has a legitimate long-term contract with the government. Scores were injured during the violent takeover.

If not for the timely intervention of the trial court, Poro Point, where Thunderbird resort is now located, would not have been a major tourist destination in the north. The BCDA appealed the case before a higher court but eventually lost the case.

That a Poro Point scenario could happen in Baguio, therefore, remains a possibility. And this is the biggest worry of the summer capital community.