Baguio Memories Photo Collection
Last year, Joseph Lansang and I became friends online. He emailed me photos of Old Baguio that showed a Baguio so beautiful and clean they brought tears to my eyes, and my heart was filled with nostalgia. As this was the Baguio I fell in love with.
I never published them in Go Baguio! as I wanted to put only current photos there, those that I took myself personally from 2003 onwards.
Another reason for the hesitation was that I felt Baguio Today is so ugly compared to 40 years ago that I was afraid the stark contrast between the two would turn people off from visiting our once beautiful and peaceful city, or even condemn us as caretakers for allowing its uglification.
JoeLan, who calls himself a semi-retired golfer, has embarked on the task of getting permission to publish the photos, has organized them and is sharing them with the world. And I thank him for this.
For instead of being depressed about Baguio Today, I am inspired to turn things around and try to recapture the beauty of Old Baguio as much as we can.
In his blog at Multiply, my comments are under the name ‘atenara’ (just so you know it’s me):
“time turns and changes are inevitable.”
Why should change be change for the worse instead of change for the better?
When things are good nice and beautiful, why should we change them and make them ugly?
Chaos masquerading as ‘progress?’
I thank Joseph for his efforts at finding these photos and getting permission to publish them. He was emailing them to me last year but I did not act upon sharing them, worried that the contrast between Old Baguio and Baguio Today would be too stark that it would cause folks to be depressed.
If New York City could fix its traffic problems, clean itself up, decide it wanted to be safe, put bicycle lanes and jogging paths — why not Baguio?
I refuse to embrace this kind of change that we have thrust Baguio into. The change starts with me and I am hoping to infect everybody with an enthusiasm so contagious that we will realize we can have our virtual heaven on earth back. Within our lifetime, in the near future, too.
We can start a Baguio Historical Preservation and Restoration Society. We can consciously green our homes and brighten our gardens. We can to a man decide to walk instead of pollute the city with emissions. We can demand more from our government and our schools for the sake of our children.
Yes, the Filipino Can! And Joseph’s publication of these photos has inspired me to do better for Baguio!
Hie on over to Joelan’s Multiply Site and be inspired, too!
Notes:
1st Photo: Baden Powell Hall is now Baden Powell Inn whose beauty is covered by souvenir and food stalls, as well as bus terminals
2nd Photo: Stone Building used to stand where Maharlika Building now is, at the bottom of Session Road
3nd Photo: Beautiful Main Club was allowed by the Baguio residents to be torn down in 1997 by Fil-Estate when it took over the operations of Camp John Hay to make way for The Manor Condotel.
hi lisa, the following is an excerpt from city sense by paulo alcazaren in today’s(mar 15, ‘08) phil star issue. the title of the article is: an oasis for fun, food and culture. as you can see baguio is being left behind with urban trends. can be read online.
“With G1 in the works, the whole Greenbelt is soon to finally take its full shape. Makati of the 21st century is evolving mainly through sections like Greenbelt that finally emphasize the needs of pedestrians over cars, the diversity of delight over density, open green space over concrete, and glass and a sense of place over the numbing ubiquity of boxed-in malls. We hope the rest of Metro Manila follows.”
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Feedback is welcome. Please e-mail the writer at paulo.alcazaren@gmail.com
Hi Lisa,
I love looking at old Baguio photographs specially from the pre-war and early years when there were no roads so people moved about on horseback and carts. From an era timeline perspective of a city’s history, it is like looking at cute baby pictures that elicit deep emotions.
From the same perspective, today’s Baguio is like a teenager grimacing in anger due to skin breaks and bad hair days, perhaps lying in bed due to some illness or nursing a fractured leg.
I look forward to Baguio’s recovery, growing up and ageing gracefully like the quaint mountain cities in Europe.
Together, we can be like marginal cells paving Baguio’s evolution and not give in to social cancer cells and watch our beloved city die and lie in ruins…and put up a bigger cafe on the side. joke. haha.
Thanks for the insights.
Thanks for featuring Bill Fabianic’s photos and your email reply. Well written from a perspective of a lady who is now cool, calm and collected. No more angry/etc. words but positive thoughts/ideas on how to preserve and beautify our dear ole Baguio and present. I have not commented lately and as usual lurk around my friend. Yet, i see a changed Lisa. I dunno but i guess Nic Perlas and his truthforce had something to do about it. Can i compare it to a mini”cursillo” hehe! De-stressed and less lines on your forehead for sure. I’ll leave you with a few quotes:
“A mind at peace, a mind centered and not focused on harming others, is stronger than any physical force in the universe.”
“everything is perfect in the universe - even your desire to improve it.”
“doing what you love is the cornerstone of having abundance in your life”
Laters.
well, joe, all that ranting, raving and railing of the old angry dragon did serve a wonderful purpose. While at a photo exhibit last Saturday, Pinky Rondez committed to developing Burnham as a GREEN PARK (Resty — yehey!).
Ric Maniquis, when he discovered I was Baguio Insider said that all the folks abroad (Joe, read: You Guys!) would alert the residents here and they would be surprised that you guys know ahead of them because of Baguio Insider and the other blogs.
I was also told that some of the projects of city hall have been stopped because folks have made their feelings know that they do not want them — so, together, here and there abroad, we lobby.
City Hall has learned one small lesson, though, not to ANNOUNCE their evil plans — but they’re still at it. There are still negotiations happening for cement projects. They still have a self-serving vision for Baguio that will make it too ugly for you to want to come back and retire here if the folks here are not rallied to stop them.
Danny Farinas announced at a school forum last week that the thrust of Baguio is EDUCATION and COMMERCIALISM! WTF! (oh, I just HAD to do this, I did like my old self, too, you know)
I am calmer now because I know what to do. And the work is more offline than online, as I have been telling the other Baguio bloggers. And just because I am calm does not mean I am complacent.
Neither should you be deceived.
Vigilance, Baguio, always vigilance.
I just love the old photographs. Believe it or not, I still remember the Baden Powell place as it was in the picture - or at least close to it. Yes dear, I’m old.
I’ve always been hesitant to look at old photographs of Baguio for fear that I would compare then and now - and that might deminish whatever love I have left for the place. Could I just love a memory? I think I could - if that’s all I have left. Besides, I don’t think its all too late. There is still a chance we can bring back things to the way it use to be. There is still a chance it could be better than before.
lisa, certainly good news if burnham park is retained as a green park. but until the day it is, the rejoicing will have to wait.
as you said, vigilance…regards.
Hi Albert,
That’s exactly how I felt! And how I feel now. Don’t worry, we’ll get Baguio back and better.
Hello Resty,
Yup, it really depends on their concept of a green park, no? Kasi the Baguio local government pays lip service to concepts like BLIST, education, give Baguio back to the people.
And thanks for being the most vigilant of us all!
lisa, i know that you are summoning the universe to bring back the baguio of 50,000 that you love and that you don’t share my views that baguio will grow exponentially whether we like it or not. perhaps the baguio vision you share with albert will indeed come but at a hefty price. in the meantime, as i crossed town at 5pm through the dizzying traffic rerouting scheme last thursday, i did a random count of people on session road, malcolm square, kayang and abanao streets and i swear i counted more than 100,000 already. that is only the central district. from rizal park, i could see the traffic on harrison going to DOT and the crowd in burnham. last wednesday, our trip to bakakeng was also a shocker and so was the quirino hill and hillside landscape. the numbers the city is working with is unrealistic. 300,000? no wonder things don’t work. a crosswalk is planned for 5,000 when in fact there are 10,000 and when it is finally up there are 20,000 pedestrians. in my uneducated and unscientific estimate, there are already more than 1M people in baguio whether we rationalize it with student population or daily transients or summer visitors. (i was at edsa2 when an estimated million people swarmed the shrine). the fact remains that we are trying to squeeze a million people in a city designed for 50,000 or was that 20,000? calling mr. burnham? at any rate, lets’ deal with the givens facing us at this moment and contain the anarchy before we decide to time warp into the parallel universe of our dreams. are we a size 10 trying to fit in a size 8?
feeling ko lang ito….let’s get the hard facts in.
i think we’re a size10 squeezing into a size4. baguio is bursting at the seams! why so much land to fill all of a sudden? i forgot to mention…wright park, gibraltar and mines view is another matter. i thought those were inalienable park lands? no wonder you’re claustrophobic lisa.
abrakadabra…
Wow! Baguio was even more beautiful than the photos I saw from BenCab’s collection!
We have a lot of work to do towards a better Baguio! May God bless us with more patience, more creativity, and good spirit to take this endeavor to heart and keep our motives pure.
In Jesus’ name, I pray!
Amen.
Mike, if we are a size 10 and all we have is a size 4 dress to wear, then maybe we have to diet.
Yes, Marie and Grace, we have much work to do. But I know that filling Baguio with hope is a doable and enjoyable task.
O, dami na ulit comments.
Oo nga, Dale. Folks respond to Baguio issues at Baguio Insider — not so much about what goes on in my life or in other LGUS. Hahaha!
Ang ganda naman kasi ng Baguio dati!
Hi There
Saan na nga pala ang ‘Baden Powell’?
Thanks & regards
Ferdie,
Baden Powell is at Governor Pack Road. You may not recognize the building in the photo above as it is hidden by all the commercial stalls built in front of it.
Inside though, is a reminder of the graceful life Baguio used to have in terms of the details in its interior design. On the levels below would be Cafe Feliz and Ayuyang.
Beside it is an extension building built by the lessee, where the marker of the 2nd Session of the Philippine Commission has been moved.
Wow those pics are gorgeous. I agree with paulo regarding greenbelt. Its already a beautiful place even if it is in the middle of dirty mega manila. Baguio should follow that path don’t follow what manila city has become, all cement… scary place to go.
Yup, the highly urbanized city drama was just a classification bestowed upon Baguio by Marcos in 197? only so it could get a bigger share in the national taxes in aid of tourism.
But the people here today have embraced the chaos of what they think is an exciting urban life — traffic, air pollution, crime.
We must stop this. If anything, Baguio should consciously go towards becoming a SLOW CITY (which is what it was before).
Baguio even Metro Manila can be greened. Much of Baguio and Manila’s air issues comes from transport. Switching to natural gas, mass transit are some solutions. I’d be happy to talk about specifics of how the Philippines can use the global carbon market to help fund these solutions. Go Lisa! Gao
Hi Gao,
I agree — look at Singapore now! It is when the folks decided they wanted to be clean and green that were able to transform their city. New York is getting there. Baguio folks will awaken soon (we will shout so loud that the rest will) and decide they want to breathe, too.
I had some guests who work with the UN over the weekend and the discussion was how to turn garbage into electricity (researching this now). I did hear about the global carbon market from my brother’s best friend Rey Guarin (will research that, too).
Guess it all starts with realizing what we want — then we figure out how to get it. Let’s see what we can arrange with the local government at this end.
Thanks, old friend.
p.s. we do have a meeting with one of the councilors regarding the mass transport system next week. here’s hoping…
Hi There
The last time I went home to Baguio was on dec 2004. I was very disappointed & felt very sad…& yes,very angry when I discovered the 18th tee (or is it 19th?)in Camp John Hay demolished and replaced with a not-so-environmentally-harmoniuos-buildings. Not to mension other significant edifices & the big canopied pinetrees that gave the unique beauty of the place. Nagmayat pay itti mangan itti linong da lalo no mayat ti panahon na. I can just imagine the blending of the branches & pine needle leaves with the blue sky background, the scent & the sound of the wind. As a child, me & my friends used to go there for a snack & had a bit of ‘abroad’ feel & taste of french fries, toasted sandwiches, colas in can. I remember dropping a 25 centavos coin (pesos) to a vending machine but did not work (kunami, naglaka metten ‘ti coke 25 cents laeng). I always tell tales of my good childhood experiences backhome with my kids. Since their visit, the thrill & excitement in them are gone everytime I talk about the Baguio I knew.
Do we have Heritage Commission in Baguio (or Philippines as a whole)? If there is…what are they doing? I hope the greeN advocacy won’t be replaced by greeD.It would be very good if the government can assign a genuine Baguio boy (or girl) to head & manage such commission.
Thanks Lis for your site. It helps a lot in keeping the Baguio spirit alive.
God bless
Hi Ferdie,
I feel you! And living here, watching it transform into an UGLY BAGUIO before my very eyes hurts. And we all felt powerless to do anything about it because no matter what some of us would do to try and keep it pretty, there are many more who work faster to ruin it.
They say we have a Heritage Commission. They say it is headed by a Baguio boy or girl. I say, “Where?”
The point is pureness of motive. The Filipino now refuses to move unless motivated by profit. There is poverty even in spirit. Folks cannot understand those who are motivated by pure good intentions — we’re cynical and apathetic.
Even when I blog, folks ask, what is in it for her? They don’t understand that this blog is not made for anything except to work and try to empower Baguio folk to reclaim their once beautiful city, to have a voice, to stop feeling all alone in their quest for all that is truly good for everybody.
There is no GREEN advocacy, except as far as money is concerned, sorry to say. And the Philippine currency is not even green.
We are now working actively offline to change all this and hope that pressure from Baguio oldtimers will continue also.
Let’s all work together. You don’t have to even be here physically to make a difference.
Hi Lisa,
Visited Baguio, my birthplace after 16 years recently. What a change!
From an urban planner’s point of view,I can agree with comments above, this is a size 8 city trying to cope with a size 14 population (and growing).
To get back to size 8, we must decide whether Baguio is to be an educational center, an economic center, a tourist center, etc, or all of them at the same time…
Hopefully, eventually, satellite centers nearby will develop to attact migrants from Baguio, so the city can get back to size.
Mountainous terrain? HK is too, but what a difference with all the vertical towers and the infrastructure.
Baguio would be more like the old european cities with an old city center and expanded suburbia. Difference is, the expansion here was controlled…..Baguio’s isn’t, or not yet…(might yet?)
A conservation movement will help, only if they can get infuential enough to have a say on development plans for the city.
Yes, city fathers need to be visionaries, and have Baguio’s long term interests at heart…..
Hi Elizabeth,
Maybe Baguio should hire you! The city fathers seem to only be paying lip service to the BLIST concept. All they care about BLIST is for people to move there without providing the infrastructure and systems (schools, hospitals, transportation, piped water, electricity, lower taxes) that will entice them to move out of the center of town.
Currently, the centers are the diploma mills, all clustered in the middle of town, with all the jeepneys crowding around and at Burnham Park because no one has begun to streamline redundant routes. There are about 8 different jeepney lines passing through each major road going the same direction.
Can anyone reading this name just ‘one city father who is a visionary, with Baguio’s long term interests at heart’?
With all the traveling they do (laybay aral) they haven’t learned anything from other successful places.
But the Philippines is very different now, with corruption having permeated all aspects of daily life. No one will do anything without profit as motive. No more statesmen, no more true scholars, no more gentlemen.
Sad, no? But we’re valiantly trying to change all that now.
Hej Lisa,
(Change for the better - is what every expat-filipino hopes for - ).
If profit is the motive, let it be the strategy. Why are there so many jeepneys plying the streets….because it is an attainable means of income…but as the city shows, not all can have this trade….
from an outside perspective, so many jeepneys can be seen as a potential skill to produce similar products (or just parts)…..can that be explored?
With all this interest on new technologies, are we even looking?
Once one disects to the bone or to the last thread….ideas emerge….
(or maybe just getting too off-tangent?)
Hi again, Elizabeth,
Profit only for those in power. There are many jeepneys - 4,400 legitimate operators, 4,200 colorum, according to my sources in a government office monitoring the same. Pollution is heavy, many jeepneys are empty (a majority simply occupy the center of town for free waiting for passengers), traffic is inefficiently managed.
No production of the same available in Baguio, neither the skills nor the materials. In fact, it is the most ineeficient means of transportation that, I firmly believe, keeps our country poor and makes it less beautiful. Don’t get me wrong, I have a LOT of experience as a commuter.
The culture of corruption is something those abroad cannot imagine — just the purchase of pizza and coke contributes to GMA and all her minions staying in power.
Baguio (and the Philippines) has allowed itself to become the dumping ground of used goods, too — from Korean cars to second hand underwear.
You really have to be here to see how the folks have abused the environment and the citizenry.
The change must start with the individual Filipinos — to demand clean air, superior education, water, healthy food. To have the discipline to remove corruption from our daily lives, starting with ourselves.
If we allow profit to be the motive, then we are saying yes to the money-making ventures planned for a totally cemented Burnham Park.
There are experiences from all over, that grassroots efforts have in the past, successfully initiated development efforts. International institutions have in some cases, supported such efforts.
If the ‘oversize’ is a result of such grassroots efforts, then the intentions cannot be all wrong….they want what we want….a change for the better for everybody….
but such efforts need to be managed…directed…any existing overweight has to go somewhere…..channel the flow…steer development…
It is also a current trend that huge internationals support population habit-change…smoking, weight control….for Baguio, it is conservation….but you have to see it from the participants’ viewpoint….and it is from the grassroots level….and ‘you’ maybe the conservation movement…or/(with) the city fathers….
Hi again E.,
We will awaken everybody to the very real and immediate future of a better life, that will take every human being into consideration.
It is from that awakening that we will rebuild and transform Baguio to the heaven on earth that it is meant to be.
We all (residents past & present, plus guests) have to support little endeavors that will grow into a tidal wave of change that will cause Baguio to be beautiful again inside and out.
Well, you have awakened me…
With your dynamism, we can hope for results.
You have well-meaning filipinoes behind you….
Yes, aware citizens can make the country move forward, and each step forward there are like giant steps for us here faraway (in a sense).
May your efforts snowball….