Battling Baguio’s Dementors: A Call for Progressive Citizenship
November 17, 2007 by lisa
Filed under opinion-editorial
Folks who know me will say I am quick to get over my anger, quick to forget. That makes me very Filipino, I suppose. That’s why it surprises me that I can be this angry for this long. But more than mere anger, there is great depression, uncertainty, even despair.
Folks who know me also know that I am a very open book, that I speak my mind, that although I used to be probably the shallowest person who walked the august halls of U.P. Diliman in the early 1980s, all that changed when Lean Alejandro was slain in 1987. And when one of my favorite persons, Cochise Bernabe, disappeared forever in 1990, life somehow lost a lot of its flavor.
Baguio was my safe haven, where I could be in peace, where I could walk without fear of harm even at 2:30 a.m. in an unlit part of Legarda Road to buy cigarettes at Concorde Hotel at Europa. Where traffic jams were only encountered on Holy Week on the way to the old Camp John Hay Main Gate, where folks were cordial and nicely dressed.
I moved to Baguio to breathe.
I refuse to live in a city of chaos. To be met with rudeness and folks who know only how to do business by dropping their prices to be competitive, instead of risking offering unique products and providing great service. To walk with swarms of people going round and round and getting nowhere. To be terrorized by little criminal kids who are a reflection of Baguio parenting principles and practices.
Like a lot of Manila folk who braved hours of travel to get here this week to get away from it all, who wanted to have both a productive time during their conferences in a relaxed and relaxing environment, and arrived here to find Baguio unkempt.
There were two very significant seminars and influential groups who were here: ABS-CBN and Judges of the Lower Courts of the Philippines. Feedback from their delegates: “Ang pangit na ng Baguio!” “Dito lang sa John Hay ang maganda, pangit ang Session Road!” “Ano yun — flyover, kailangan ba?!”
They, too, chose to come to Baguio to breathe, but were in for a big disappointment, especially when going to the Central Business District!
Building an Army.
Instead of just moping about the current state of affairs, I actually “went to town” and met up with civic groups, business organizations and businessmen. Mixed reactions, and a lot of them were like me in 1981, shallow and clueless, seeing only the results, not realizing the effects. When I ranted in person, enumerating a series of ill-conceived plans, revealing selfish motives, and opening their eyes to possible consequences, some where aghast “I didn’t know that!,” some were resigned, “Ganyan talaga,” some were opportunistic, “So what kind of school should we set up?,” some were in denial, “Hindi taga-Baguio ang gumagawa niyan!”
All the local officials are taga-Baguio. Sila ang gumagawa niyan!
But all-in-all the beginnings of my “crusade” did open businessmen’s eyes to the irregularities that are being perpetrated here:
- the questionable number of taxis operating in the city (and the consequent traffic) are man-made
- the lousy implementation (or non-collection of garbage) of the segregation policy, deliberate in its timing to coincide with the shift of focus away from tourism (most folks see this as a separate move — it is not!)
- the implications of the “educational center of the north drama” on business and the environment
- the lunacy of the plans for an unnecessary market at Burnham Park and the destructive Botanical Garden ‘development’
- our new “welcome arch,” Domogan’s flyover, which he insists on finishing by year-end (lest we tear it down or blow it up) by a rumored re-allocation of the Benguet budget for farm-to-market projects to the tune of 60M
- and policies that serve only to promote their personal wealth at the expense of the whole populace
It is greed devoid of finesse!
Catherine Arvisu-de la Rosa was kind when she said months ago about the politicians, “They just don’t know any better,” to which I countered, “Then they shouldn’t have run for office!”
Heck, they even legislated the City Hall Christmas Party 2007 in an ordinance!
Kim Jong Hei
Running a B&B seldom allows me to have breakfast out much. So when a chance for a breakfast meet-up with cousin Carlo Legarda came, I grabbed it quite happily. I was asked to select the venue, as he was not too hot about eating another one at the Manor. He was in a seminar there for a few days and wanted to try another place.
I chose House of Waffles at Camp John Hay, forgetting that it was now a more a Korean restaurant. Our common cousin, Jeannine McCann-Chan mentioned a day earlier that Koreans are not allowed to play golf at the Baguio Country Club. And I joked, “Well, they did ‘buy’ into Camp John Hay big time!”
House of Waffles has a mildly interesting short history — It was a Country Waffles franchise that was abandoned by Bert Nievera when he up and left the Philippines. The Baguio staff, led by its manager continued running it ‘ownerless’, after which it was taken over by a Baguio businessman, who in turn sold it to a Korean this year.
They were out of caramel for my Caramel Pecan Pancakes and substituted it with Chocolate instead. I start thinking, ah, can’t you make your own caramel? That’s just sugar boiled in water — or sometimes sugar, water and cream! Then I realized this is one time change in ownership really matters. Caramel does not appear much in a Korean’s repertoire. It’s easier to buy a bottle of Hershey’s syrup.
Carlo must’ve wondered why I took him to breakfast within Camp John Hay. I told him I did not want him to see downtown. I was bewailing to Carlo the fact that I am hesitant to even book rooms for my B&B until Bautista starts fixing the garbage (and consequent vermin) problems that he has inflicted upon the Baguio populace. Carlo opined that it may help Baguio’s cause to have the ‘outside world’ see what’s going on and maybe there will be national pressure for Baguio to shape up.
While I agree that that would be a possibility that could work in Baguio’s favor, I think that greater damage may be done by having them see Baguio so ugly and dirty, so full of garbage, graffiti and talipapas and make instant judgments.
We just...
hi lisa,
so finally, someone articulate has stepped up to do something about baguio. courageous! count me in.
p.s. inch by inch, gibraltar is giving way to more hotels and condos, sooner, south drive will go that way too.
Thanks, Resty
I knew you’d be the first, judging from your conscientious concern for Baguio, Burnham Park in particular. Will email you when the details are firm.
Here’s another whammy, dear Lisa….
Baguio officials allot P20M to buy cars (for themselves)
BAGUIO CITY – The city council on Monday allotted close to P20 million for the purchase of vehicles for the use of its councilors, the vice mayor and the city mayor.
The amount will come from a 2006 city budget savings from their Internal
Revenue Allotment worth P25.2 million.
The “car-plan” ordinance, numbered 057, was passed on its third and final reading on Monday. The ordinance was sponsored by pastor-turned politician Galo Weygan after the city’s Local Finance Committee certified the 2006 IRA surplus of P25 million.
Under the approved ordinance, P15 million will be used for the ‘car plan’ for the 14 councilors including the vice mayor, meaning a vehicle worth a little more than
P1 million each.
The mayor would get an allotment of P4.6 million for his vehicle. The remaining P5.6 million was allotted for barangay projects which are to be identified by the members of the city council.
The ordinance was approved overwhelmingly.
Only councilor Antonio Tabora Jr. voted against the ordinance while councilors Rufino Panagan and Leandro Bayan Jr. were out of the session hall during the deliberation and voting, which was presided by councilor Rocky Thomas Balisong.
Asked to comment, Vice mayor Daniel Fariñas, who is now the acting mayor while mayor is on official visit to China said the city “needs more garbage trucks and sanitary landfill as priority, rather than cars”.
Tabora Jr. described the ordinance as “infuriating” because the allocation was done in obvious haste. He pointed out that he had asked for a deferment but the majority of the councilors prevailed during the voting.
Tabora Jr. said that with the car for each of the councilor, the city’s woes could multiply as it would have to shoulder payment for the driver for each of the councilor, the gas allocation for each of the vehicle and the subsequent maintenance of the vehicles.
Some policemen noted that three of their prowl cars have already been junked.
The city has one vehicle for each of the 10 sub-stations, one for the traffic division and two unmarked vehicles for operations while two SWAT vehicles double as prowl cars.
Baguio police spokesman Senior Police Officer 3 Virgilio Hidalgo said that three police units – the Scene of the Crime Operation (SOCO) unit, Child and Women Section and Operations Division – do not have vehicles.- GMANews.TV
Related LINKs –
http://igorotblogger.blogspot.com/2007/11/how-to-spend-p20-million.html#links
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/68999/Baguio-officials-allot-P20-million-fund-to-buy-cars
Baguio officials allot P20M to buy cars (for themselves)
Thanks Chi, for the news and links!
And they don’t want to pay GSIS 35M for the Convention Center?
Exactly what I just mentioned — greed without an iota of finesse!
wow…talagang mapapa wow ka sa mga pangyayaring ito..mga dementor na naka-kotse, ibang klase talaga..hindi ko na ho itatanong kung me hiya ho ba iyang mga coucilor na iyan at alam na ho natin ang sagot…ng binabasa ko ho ang mga nakaraang issue ng blog ninyo, ako’y nakarandam ng kakaibang ngit-ngit, bukod sa inis at galit at grrrrrr..ewan…can’t find the exact words to express it…dahilan narin ho marahil na wala akong magawa o d sapat ang aking ginagawa para sa baguio..gawa na,in the sense na it’s so tangble enough para pamarisan ng iba or make those involve think twice…i.e VIGILANTE style ba…extreme…you think…a popular majority may say otherwise. But then wishful thinking lang…..ma’am lisa, tanong ho para sayo…in your quest to fight the dementors and you know who, ano ho ang katauhan ng patronuse ninyo? ako ho ang ganda…Garbage can……hek…hek…hek…more power to you and to the “order of the Lisa”
Rebel, ang aking patronus ay isang dragon! O di kaya iyan ang isinasalamin ko lamang, at ako pala ang dragon?!
nakakagulat ang kanilang bagong pakana na magpa-kotse sa kanilang sarili. hindi na ba sila nahiya? Tag-isang sasakyan lamang ang mga presinto ng pulis, at sasampu lamanag ata ang umiikot sa 57 sq km. E kung dagdagan nalang sana nila ang mga ito?
ang kakapal ng mga bwayang yan imbes ayusin nila ang problema sa basura at trapiko eh dinadagdagan pa nila..demented nga tlga sila..dapat ata my psychological testing muna ang mga tatakbo sa election para maiwasan ang mga sira ulo sa city hall
Defiantbayaran, Welcome!
‘Weird’ nga ang sistema na umiiral sa ating bansa. Kailangang gumastos ng malaki upang manalo sa eleksiyon at makapuesto. At makapuesto para sa saan? Upang magpayaman! Ginagawa nilang puhunan ang gastos sa kapanya na ginugustong nilang bawaiin, at kung maari, kumita pa. Parang negosyo.
Kasalanan din natin. Pumapayag tayo e. Di naman nila alam na ayaw natin ang gawain nilang ito kung hindi tayo mag-’rally.’ Ang tanong, magmartsa ba ang karamihan?
e paano kung pumasa sila sa ‘pyschological ‘testing?’ Hindi naman ‘ata sira ang ulo nila! Alam nila ang ginagagawang pagkakamkam! Alam din nilang hindi tayo iimik. At ang karamihan ng botante nila ay hindi makabili ng pahayagan kaya hindi nila alam ang nangyayari dahil pinipilit nilang manatiling nag-hihirap ang mga tao.
Ngunit tayong nakakaalam, di ba dapat kumilos na ngayon?
iyan ang effect of breathing too much pollution from uncollected garbage and motor vehicle emissions. it affects your thinking. so far, iyong mga nag popost dito, hindi pa at huwag naman sana. dagdag ko na rin ingay, pollution din iyan. deteriorating na lahat dito sa baguio. ang pangontra niyan ay pagbabasa ng books, newspapers o relevant tv shows such as tungkol sa global warming, planet in peril, simple living, etc.
Building a market at Burnham is really a lunatic idea.
Interesting that it’s now the evangelists who are doing the protesting. Good for them and for us. Where have all the tibaks gone these days?
Welcome Bill!
The ‘Love Baguio, Leave Baguio’ gentlemen also happen to be long-time residents of Baguio who have a built-in constituency in their flock.
The ‘tibaks’ I know are limited to the few ‘mulat’ UP students, whose forums I used to host at Nevada Square a few years back, plus a few artists.
But no one is taking to the streets yet. We need a ‘tibak’ middle class! It’s the absence of leadership and specific programs of action, I suppose.
ps. I love your blog! Maybe all bloggers in Baguio can unite? And work as one with other sectors for the good of Baguio offline. Great propaganda tools, blogsites can be. Individually, pretty influential already! Together, very, very potent.
Lisa,
I am very surprised that someone who claims to love baguio very much would actually tag baguio as UKAY Capital of the Philippines! ANybody who has ever known and lived in Baguio would be outraged that you are actually promoting Baguio as an ukay capital of the Philippines. Having been born and raised in Baguio, I hated the fact that session road was infiltrated by your beloved ukay ukay. Of course, not to be a hypocrite, but I benefitted from the cheap goods of the ukay, but i knew that it was adding to the degradation of Baguio. Why don’t you include that in one of your battles instead of baptizing baguio as Ukay Capital. I am not against ukay, but i think it shouls be limited to some areas in Baguio. Definitely not session road where it now looks like someone’s apartment with clothes being left out in hangers to dry.
Truebaguiogal, welcome!
Hahaha. But I was not the one who tagged Baguio as the Ukay Capital of the Philippines! That was our then mayor, now congressman Mauricio Domogan who very proudly announced it.
I, too, dislike the way folks don’t want to think of any other business to put up on and off session road except the ukay. I am aghast at how folks buy up everything — including used underwear — at the ukay. It alarms me that a lot of these buildings are fire traps. It bugs me that owners of vacant lots and otherwise untenantable buildings, instead of improving their properties for the sake of Baguio, have chosen to stuff ukay stalls in them. I am upset at the way Baguio City Hall gives new investments a hard time about setting up businesses that will enhance Baguio (e.g. restaurants) but are quick to grant permits to ukay stalls and sari-sari stores.
From a marketing point of view, I will attempt to convert a weakness into a strength. Since visitors see a Session Road filled with such stalls, I have to ’sell’ that as a benefit (”items that will rival designer goods found on Ebay”)in a travel website.
Because there’s just no other way to justify the proliferation of these ugly stalls with other people’s DISCARDS that the people of Baguio absolutely LOVE! Actually the ukay stalls proliferate not because of the visitors, but because, as I mention in the article, “it is a way of life” for the residents.
It’s the same way I hate Pinikpikan for the way it is prepared. However, it IS a Cordillera ritual. So I will feature it as a ritual, not as a must try dish. And personally, I will never eat the stuff nor patronize a place that sells it.
I hate seeing laundry hung out to dry, too. There are many things I actually dislike about Baguio today, but for the love of the city, I will not bash Baguio itself at Go Baguio! nor at Baguio Insider — just the folks responsible for trashing the place at Baguio Insider.
If the city stopped allowing ukay stalls to be put up, and instead declared it “UKAY_FREE!” then I would proudly announce that, too!
And watch, the minute I bash the ukay, now folks will condemn me as anti-poor naman. Hahaha.
Believe me, it is thus such an exercise in restraint for me not to air Baguio’s dirty laundry in public (on the web). I act on the things that need fixing OFFLINE. So that maybe we can fix up Baguio before everyone notices and condemns us in toto for being bad caretakers of the city.
For the love of Baguio, dear.
Lisa
I love your blog
Best friend and cousin
Hello best friend and cousin Diane,
Our beautiful Baguio is being assaulted by ugliness and congestion! Come home na!
Love, Lisa
Having been brought up in Baguio for half my life, I wanted to stay connected to recent events in the city, and I was reffered to this website. I have found what I read on this particular blog entry to be both sad and maddening.
For one thing, what with the US presidential elections comming up, I wish that Philippine politicians would take note and learn from it. You CANNOT run for office for any position of the American Government without the desire to be of service to OTHERS. They also do NOT forget that they ARE accountable to the constituents who elected them into office. And what I like best about the American Politics is the fact that regardless if the incoming person was against or for the person he or she is replacing in office, they recognize when a good program has been put into action and support it’s contiuation. Unlike Filipino politicians, God forbid that they should support ANYTHING that they can’t get credit for starting, never mind that the people and the community around them are benefiting from it.
When Congressman Domogan was Mayor of Baguio, it was deemed one of the cleanest and greenest cities of the Philippines. What happened?!? Now with Mayor Bautista, I’ve heard that
trash is piling up on the streets because there just isn’t anymore room in the city dump. Millions of pesos have also been spent in order to dump Baguio’s trash in another city’s dumps. That my friend, does not solve the garbage problem. It’s only spending the tax payers money while the Mayor hopes he can stall long enough to finish his term and pass on the problem to whoever is elected next. Well maybe if Mayor Bautista actuallly spent more time in his office working for his city instead of gallivanting overseas every few weeks, he might actally get something done.
Alot of friends and relatives who have visited Baguo lately have complained of the traffic conjestion and the bad quality of air. Air pollution is such a major problem, that most of my friends or relatives used to the cleaner air where they’re from developed respiratory problems walking around the city. Too many smoke belching taxis and jeepneys that god-forbid the government should cut down since they’re voters . . . Well what about the voting majority made up of pedestrian citizens?
And what’s with this news that the struggling tax payers are now providing the Baguio government with NEW cars?!? Or an allowance for them in any case. Which of the self-serving, money grubbing, apathetic and ignorant politicians came up with that brilliant idea. Because of course any money that the city makes is not OWNED by the city should be divied up between the politicians. I guess they have forgotten that they are public SERVANTS and should be thinking about how to improve the lives of their constituents whom they ARE accountable to.
Like my family and friends are apt to tell me only in the Philippines. Yup only in the Philippines do the politicians have their own definition of democracy. No longer does it mean a “government of the people, by the people, FOR the people,” but rather a government “of the greedy, by the ignorant, for the corrupt.” I’d say shame on them, but then the Baguio politicians don’t have enough decency and morality between them to feel anything but satisfaction at the wealth they’ve acquired at the expense of the city and it’s people.
Hiya Elyssa,
The Philippines is deliberately raising future generations of hopeless citizens via the “shameless, state-sponsored, systematic moronization of the Filipino” (I love to quote Butch Dalisay in this regard).
The Marcos legacy was to leave in his wake a politically immature citizenry, hungry politicians who use HIS system of raping the resources of the country better than he could at that time, and a press that, though outspoken, is also irresponsible and does not possess too much integrity.
Many good people with good minds have abandoned the country to seek their fortunes abroad, to return only when they are infirm so that the Philippines can take care of them prior to burial, haveing giving their best years in service to another country.
And they will return only to find a country they do not recognize because they have abandoned it for decades to the wolves who stayed behind.
This is our dilemma. And it is a big one. And every intelligent Filipino must step up now, whether from within or without the country, to help restore the country to its former excellent self.
So dear, Elyssa, much as I agree with your comparison of the two political systems, we still have to analyze the WHY of it all. And the answer is, the people themselves.
The Americans do not take a lot of bull from their own politicians, but they allow their country to rape other sovereign states like Iraq and Afghanistan in order to maintain their residents’ excessive living standards while wasting away the world’s resources.
The Filipinos take a lot from their own but do not offend anyone, or bully anyone.
And I guess the key is to educate the masses, but definitely not the brand of education that Baguio schools give, which is total spoon feeding and non-analytical for the most part (”memorize this and folks will think you intelligent, so you can pass the board and earn a lot while wiping some foreigners butt”).
I guess we all want the same things for our country, and in particular Baguio. So the final question is: what will we do, DIRECTLY and CONSTRUCTIVELY, to help the City of Pines?
Welcome to the bittersweet burden of finally waking up and smelling Bautista’s garbage.
:<
p.s. I just re-read your comment and want to add Baguio was “cleanest and greenest” but only 3 years after the earthquake. But during the years Domogan was mayor, migrants, squatters and illegal vendors abounded in Baguio, the city market was given to Uniwide, street parking was given to Jadewell, SM City Baguio was given 5 years moratorium on business taxes. A city cannot be physically clean when city hall isn’t.
Well, in Baguio there is always fun! Pest control companies prioritize giving good treatment to beautiful houses there. People love to climb up Baguio because it’s cool!