Camp John Hay
From Philippines Wiki
Camp John Hay (CJH) is Baguio's most popular visitor attraction. A beautiful resort in the mountains it features a world class competition golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus, hotels, a shopping center & a convention center, among other attractions. Located on the south eastern side of the Summer Capital of the Philippines, its Main Gate is now located on Loakan Road, a 5-minute drive from its old location at the Upper Session Road-Loakan Road-South Drive rotunda.
Camp John Hay has a second entrance accessible via the Baguio Country Club road, which is closer to the other major tourist attractions of the City of Pines.
This former rest & recreation facility for American soldiers in the Asia is a destination in itself.
Camp John Hay (CJH) is Baguio's most popular visitor attraction. A beautiful resort in the mountains it features a world class competition golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus, hotels, a shopping center & a convention center, among other attractions. Located on the south eastern side of the Summer Capital of the Philippines, its Main Gate is now located on Loakan Road, a 5-minute drive from its old location at the Upper Session Road-Loakan Road-South Drive rotunda.
Camp John Hay has a second entrance accessible via the Baguio Country Club road, which is closer to the other major tourist attractions of the City of Pines.
This former rest & recreation facility for American soldiers in the Asia is a destination in itself.
Much has changed since it was converted into a privately run resort, although there are many areas still accessible to the public for free, and yet Camp John Hay's charm remains the same with its pine tree-lined roads, beautiful landscaping, quaint cottages and wide open spaces. The place remains a "must visit" for tourists.
For Camp John Hay is what makes Baguio, Baguio.
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[edit] A Short History of Camp John Hay
This former rest and recreation facility of the U.S. Armed Forces is older than the city itself. For almost the whole of the 20th century it is what made Baguio City in the Philippines "Little America."
In 1903 Camp John Hay was designed as the rest & recreational facility for the US Military and Department of Defense in the Far East. This U.S. base, which was named after U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt's Secretary of State, was used by the Japanese as a concentration camp for American and British soldiers during WWII.
It was also used as their military headquarters when General Yamashita moved up north from Manila towards the end of the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines.
This 690-hectare property was finally turned over to the Philippines 1991 upon the expiration of the R.P.-U.S. Bases Agreement. From 1991 to 1997, Filipinos ran the former U.S. Air Force recreational facility for the first time as a resort, operating all the popular and familiar spots as close to the originals as possible: 19th Tee, Halfway House, Mile-Hi, Lone Star, Main Club, the Scout Hill Snack Bar and the Bakery.
Since 1997 it has been in the hands of a private developer on a long term lease. It boasts of private vacation houses, hotels and lodging facilities, including the most popular Baguio hotel, Camp John Hay Manor, a shopping center called Mile-Hi Center with numerous restaurants and stores, and a newly-built convention center. Jack Niclaus redesigned what is literally the coolest golf course in the Philippines into a competition golf course that continues to host the hugely popular annual Fil-Am Golf Tournament.
The Philippine government has retained a portion of the property and maintains the Historical Core featuring a museum at the Commander's Cottage, Bell Ampitheater, a Butterfly Sanctuary. And the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) runs Igorot Lodge.
[edit] Camp John Hay in the 20th Century Remembered
My first visit to Camp John Hay was in the early 1970s as a guest of Joe Montemayor, a Filipino immigrant to the United States.
We had formal dinner at the Main Club where my brother and I were told to be on our best behavior as 'children should be seen, not heard.'
It was a cold December night and we were all bundled up, with our finest clothes underneath, for that most magical of nights in a 'foreign' setting that was simply the most beautiful place I had ever seen in all my life (of course I was only six years old).
That was my first memory of Camp John Hay (CJH), and it was right at the beginning of my love affair with Baguio City, an affair that has lasted almost all of my whole lifetime.
[edit] FOR U.S. CITIZENS ONLY
No Filipino used to be allowed inside except as a guest of a U.S. citizen, until CJH opened its doors in the early 1980s. This was so because the U.S. subsidized the goods and services inside with their taxpayers' money. Bowling was at a dime a game, candy bars cost a quarter.
But my favorite cousins had moved up to Baguio City in 1975, and they were U.S. citizens. So when we were were old enough to be allowed to explore on our own, we just used to walk to the Main Gate from their house on Wagner Road, and when 'rich,' rode a base taxi around, and if 'poor,' which was most of the time, we explored a lot on foot.
[edit] A TASTE OF AMERICA
For Filipinos, 'brainwashed' for a whole century with American propaganda, Camp John Hay was, for a brief moment, a taste of clean American living. Base workers were paid in U.S. dollars, a much higher rate than the local wages in the Philippines. For visitors, it was all about pinball machines, and Hershey's bars, burgers and apple pie.
For me, it was a magical place, being transported to another time and place 'when life was slow and oh so mellow.'
[edit] Places to Explore
[edit] Philippine Military Academy
For the past 100 years, the officers training school of the Armed Forces in the Philippines has made Baguio City its home.
The Philippine Military Academy (PMA) boast of a long and illustrious history of preparing only the best Filipino men (and, in recent times, women) for military service.
Located at Fort Gegorio del Pilar on Loakan Road, visitors to the City of Pines are welcome to explore the grounds, view the cadets doing their drills, and view the PMA museum and see vintage tanks and other historical military weapons.
