BAGUIO CITY ? Alexander Payumo?s heart sank when he opened the door of Casa Vallejo Hotel so he and other guests could have a perfect view of the float parade and street dancing at the 14th Panagbenga or Flower Festival last February.

Payumo, the officer-in-charge of the Lands Management Division (LMD) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), could not believe that the building on Upper Session Road which used to house his office for 12 years had become so decrepit and dilapidated.

?Casa Vallejo and my office shared the same roof,? he recalled of the first hotel in the country?s summer capital. ?The place was perfect for tourists since it?s situated at the heart of Baguio.?

Casa Vallejo was originally dubbed Dormitory 4, built in the early 1920s by the then Bureau of Public Works (BPW) to accommodate its employees. In 1923, Salvador Vallejo leased Dormitory 4 from BPW, and renovated the place to start a hotel business. The lease was renewed several times until it was interrupted by World War II.

Vallejo, however, resumed the lease on Feb. 1, 1946.

After the war, the hotel, which was made of pinewood to suit Baguio?s ambience, became the favorite destination of tourists, vacationers and honeymooners. It enjoyed this distinction until financial reversals reportedly caused by a labor strike forced the hotel owners to close it down.

Now the hotel is a picture of decay. It is deserted, its 30 rooms filled with cobwebs, its doors as well as several pieces of furniture stolen. The interior walls have been torn down and the dining area, kitchen, and corridors have become a breeding ground for insects and pests.

Noted Payumo: ?The hotel has been cannibalized. Unscrupulous people have looted the pinewood and other parts of the building. Kinahoy ang [They carted away the] toilets, including the shower room. It?s been deteriorating through the years.?

The DENR official waxed nostalgic as he recalled his occasional banter with Justina Vallejo Garcia, who took over the management of the hotel when her father died in 1953.

?Doña Justina was a hands-on manager and made sure everything ran smoothly. She occupied a room inside the hotel and lived there. She interacted with the hotel guests and was friendly to everyone, including the government employees who were working in different offices there,? he related.

Payumo, a native of Pampanga who raised his family in Baguio, said he booked his relatives and friends at the hotel at P120 per head in 1978.

?Guests kept coming back because the rate was affordable. Foreigners especially liked both Baguio?s cool weather and the hotel?s ambience,? he said.

In 1989, Garcia wanted to buy the Casa Vallejo building and lot after these were awarded to her by the defunct Building Services and Real Property Management Office (BSRPMO) in October 1971.

Abelardo Palad Jr., then Lands Management Bureau director, said a deed of conditional sale executed in Garcia?s favor was forwarded to the secretary of the defunct General Services Administration (GSA) but it was rejected.

?[The property] may not be categorized for the housing facilities of poor and deserving citizens due to the enormous size and commercial value of its premises,? the GSA said in its decision. ?[Garcia] is not a poor landless citizen,? it added.

In 1975, the case was elevated to the Secretary of Justice for an opinion but he upheld the GSA secretary?s decision. In his evaluation report, Palad noted that Garcia deserved to acquire the property as she has been leasing it for 63 years, religiously paying the rent on time and improving the infrastructure. They could not however do anything but reiterate the GSA decision.

In a report dated Jan. 14, 2009, Victor Carantes, regional technical director of the Lands Management Services of DENR-Cordillera, said Casa Vallejo, a national government property, had been turned over by the Department of General Services to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in 1987. In 1989, the DGS was abolished and its functions transferred to DENR.

?It has become a historical landmark in Baguio, being the first hotel in the city,? Carantes said in the report.

When the lease contract expired in December 1992, Garcia asked the DENR to renew it, but for a term of 25 years. ?Unfortunately, the request was denied by DENR and instead, the contract was renewed on a yearly basis. The last lease contract was from Jan. 1, 1997 to Dec. 31, 1997,? Carantes said.

In 1998, Garcia requested for the renewal of the lease but this was rejected by then Environment Secretary Antonio Cerilles, who then directed the DENR-Cordillera to take over the property.

?It is worthy to note that prior to the denial of their request for renewal of the contract of lease, the operations of Casa Vallejo had ceased due to financial reverses on March 1, 2000,? the report added.

Casa Vallejo is now under the administration of the Natural Resources Development Corp. (NRDC), the corporate arm of DENR, based on the memorandum of agreement between DENR and NRDC.

Payumo said he was not privy to the NRDC?s plans for Casa Vallejo, but there were talks that it might be transformed into a training center or dormitory for government employees.

Earlier, the city government had tried to intervene, backed by conservationists who wanted to preserve Casa Vallejo. Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. began negotiations with the DENR in 2008, but was assured only that the development plans would try to keep the old Vallejo architecture. ?