ALERT! P200 MILLION BUILDING TO BE ERECTED ON BURNHAM PARK
Nothing, not common sense, nor good intentions, nor love for Baguio, nor a sense of decency, nor good taste is going to stop the Baguio local government from pushing through with a multi-storey building on Burnham Park.
According to my sources, this project has already been ‘approved.’ That the All The Mayor’s Men are now going around looking for and negotiating with the one who’s going to be the ‘winning’ bidder. Our politicians are so friggin’ unimaginative about making money while in office that they have to enter into all sorts of building schemes. And they’re so friggin’ tasteless that it has to be multi-storey and in the center of town, when just as much money can be made with widening roads, building sidewalks, fixing street signs, lighting up the streets and making Baguio pretty.
Added on 11 Jan: Why not spend the money on Baguio Convention Center instead? That money can be spent to redesign it to accommodate 5,000 guests at a time and imagine the revenue!
If I were mayor of Baguio, I would STOP building and start clearing. We simply cannot see Baguio anymore for all the buildings, jeeps and taxis.
And this is because they know that Baguio residents are friggin’ apathetic and probably just as tasteless — judging from the lack of massive protests against Domogan’s flyover, or Vergara’s pedestrian overpasses.
Let us not allow any building to be built on Burnham Park! Bus terminals must move to the fringes of Baguio, jeepneys and taxis must not be allowed to park on Burnham and in the center of town. Massively populated Baguio schools devoid of trees like University of the Cordilleras (14,000 students), Saint Louis University (22,000 students) and University of Baguio (20,000 students) that are directly responsible for the congestion of Baguio must provide for parking buildings at their expense and not get it for free using public land and public funds.
Give Baguio back to the people. We should have the right to breathe good air and take long walks in safety.
Attention: Baguio newspersons! Don’t report this too late, when the deal is done! We can still stop this!
Wake up, Baguio! Apathy means consent.
We just...
Hi Lisa.. We did love Baguio when we were staying there and when I was a M.A. student at SLU(just to be productive, while my kids were at school, not SLU, though). During the couple of years, I managed to park my car within school premises. Applying for a sticker is a bit of a hassle, really but I DID use the school’s ample parking lot(and it’s scheduled). We loved the Baguio Market, where one can practically GET EVERYTHING for pasalubongs or otherwise..Burnham was my kids’ fave place to go biking, roller blading. It’s kinda sad to hear this bit of news. Baguio will have more concrete than pine trees! I can hear my husband say: “Tsk,tsk….MAHINA!)
Hi E!
At least the SLU campus has 6 hectares. UC (formerly BCF) and UB stuff tens of thousands into their teeny properties…
Talagang MAHINA! Ang gubiyerno, ang mga naninirahan dito. ABUSADO pa!
Happy New Year too Lisa! Good to see you coming out smoking again with posts such as this. Poor Baguio! Can’t the local government clear the area where the BAL station used to be? Heard close by is where the Victory Liner Station is now. Relocate those offices located there if needed. But not right smack around Burnham Park. Ooops i guess all the folks have had their palms greased huh!
My warmest regards to Mommy Gene if you see her. Kaklase ko yung anak noon.
Hi Joe! That area is owned by GSIS and a portion leased to a gasoline station. Jeepneys and taxis park there. Of course sari-sari and mini carinderia stalls for the drivers.
I really hope the National Parks takes Burnham Park management from Baguio. I understand why the Philippine Tourism Authority was withholding their 10M subsidy for its operations. Baguio is mismanaging Burnham Park.
hi lisa, if true, this is VANDALISM at its highest and worst kind. it will forever leave an ugly scar in the city.
You’re right, Resty, it is vandalism!
And it’s no secret that Peter Rey has proposed a parking building or that Perlita Rondez has proposed a terminal and market. There were obscure news accounts in September and October. They are now laying the legal, administrative and financial foundations therefor.
They’re already looking for someone to pour the cement!
that’s very bad.as in bad talaga.nilulustay na lang yata pera ng siyudad para sa kabalbalan nila a.hmmm…
very bad.bad.bad.bad.
This is worse than the car plan and no we should pull no punches to stop this stupidity. But I remain hopeful and optimistic that the Baguio people will not allow this to happen.
Don’t expect the Bautistas, who have concretized and commercialized every square inch of real estate in their cash cow UB campus, to be sensitive to aesthetic and longterm visions for the quality of life of the Baguio residents.
If Peter Rey pushes through with this then it will just show that the Bautistas are just concerned about squeezing the most out of what Baguio can give them.
They don’t care about giving back.
Yup, Jhie. BAD! We have to take to the streets!
Am alerting as many as I can to this reality as a pre-emptive move. Of course we have mentioned this in previous posts in the Burnham Park and opinion/editorial categories.
But when I heard of the Mayor’s Men moving around already, I got really worried na!
Yes Jack, politicians just can’t wait to get their hands greased! Shameless! Brazen! With a great sense of entitlement, too!
dear lisa,
poor baguio… we have enough buildings already. we don’t need another one. why don’t they spend such amount of money in buying dump trucks for garbages… inya ket den nga pinagpanpanunuten aya!
Liza, why can’t Baguio officials improve on existing, yet dilapidated buildings? Or buyout these properties instead? I’m not familiar with the legalities but there MUST be a way somehow. My 2 cents worth.
Hello Irene — and Elaine!
Simple answer — THEY DON’T WANT TO.
Yup, the money will be better spent elsewhere, like buying dumptrucks (the same thing Irene is thinking), or improve buildings in the same of conservation or heritage.
The Baguio politicians are greedy and unimaginative (fatal combination) — using the same formula like Domogan and Vergara and all other Filipino politicians have been using — cement the country, and the poor folk (their target voters) will consider it progress!
They do not care for the middle class (those of us whose opinions are arrived at after careful deliberation, who blog or read the news or comment), because they ARE SURE we will not get off our comfortable office chairs to take to the streets and protest.
Their power stems from our apathy. We have to change this equation in our favor.
So when do we take to the streets? Soon I hope! Never mind if we’re accused of over-reacting or jumping the gun. As long as we can’t be blamed for not taking action!
A perfect way to really, really MESS UP with the Burnham Master Plan, and at the worst time when the Baguio Centennial is just around the corner. What a tribute.
Daniel Burnham must be spinning in his grave now.
If you have seen the “Official Xmas Postcard of City Hall” [http://jackcarino.multiply.com/photos/album/37/Baguios_Official_Xmas_Postcard#3>Party Time -- Dec 20, 2007], then that should explain why all this is happening — This is all a matter of sensibility, and good if that matter is in their consciousness at all.
Que barbaridad! We have so many barbarians at city hall.
They think that only infra, more infras, and nothing but infras, could solve the ills of urbanization.
Green solutions, like social behavior modifications — such as “No Cars in CBDs During Rush Hours” — are now being enforced in some European countries, with great results for Clean Air Campaign as well. Baguio, as a walkable city, should start doing this too.
Anyway, let’s all take to the streets and don’t forget to swarm the ugly mayor’s blog with your comments and reactions.
May the blessings be! {Kahit heto at galit na naman ako}.
well… I was out for 2 years and a half.. in the city of baguio and came back after.. what a mess… its mabaho and dirty… people ofbaguio wake-up Igorots..before its too late
Hay naku, Padma, gather your army and I’ll do the same. I believe that jumping the gun is perfectly alright!
Chi, back to Hot Clouds, huh? Yup, Burnham Park — actually, Baguio — must be saved at all costs! Es verdad, que barbaridad! Que jologs somos ya!
Itfew, problem is, Baguio is populated now by folks who can live in squalor and a mayor whose competence and motives should be in question.
I just can’t understand some people! Once in their life, were they not kids too? Sad.
Thanks for alerting us Lisa, what can we do to get some sense into these people’s heads?
They are selling Baguio left and right. If they can sell Baguio sky they will!
Hi Lovelyn! And I add to your question — don’t they love their children, too?
Hay naku, Tina, blinded by greed, with the devil in their hearts. They figure siguro, if Domogan and Vergara got away with it for more than a decade, kami rin!
What Bautista does not realize, palibhasa he pays someone to run his blogs, that blogging is a powerful medium that can unmask them.
I voted for mayor Bautista thinking with his youth, he would be concerned with the natural environment of Baguio. Turns out he’s no different from the others. He speaks with two tongues. He says he’d like a cleaner Baguio but would like to pollute Burnham park with more motor vehicles with his parking ideas.
Hay, Resty …
I, too, was hoping that Peter Rey would be a non-traditional politician. For all his so-called experience as a ‘legislator’ and ‘educator’ I see no evidence of intelligence or love for Baguio in his actions.
WITH PETER REY BAUTISTA IT’S ALL ABOUT MAKING MORE MONEY FOR UB, AND APPROPRIATING PUBLIC LANDS AND MONIES FOR THEIR PRIVATE BILLION PESO RACKET OF A SCHOOL.
It’s economic power used to gain political power to maintain economic power.
We also have to take a close look at Mauricio “Mr. Flyover” Domogan, and all those Baguio “Car Plan” councilors.
UP Baguio has a group of mountaineers that sponsor a trail run every year in Camp John Hay. Its purpose to preserve trails, parks, etc. I wonder if they can help us out here in organizing a rally. Hello, Katti, help!