Burnham Park Developed More As an Amusement Park
Above is a photo (no — it’s not a painting) of Burnham Park through photographer Ric Maniquis’ eyes. We took a photo of it during the Burnham Park Exhibit at SM City Baguio (by the lower parking basement level elevators), that will run until March 31, 2008.
To protect the image, I have added a watermark for the protection of Ric’s intellectual property.
On one side are photos of a Baguio growing up, while the other features recent images of Burnham Park. Ric, along with Ompong Tan, two of the artists whose works were being shown, said that the challenge is to find an ‘empty’ Burnham Park these days (in taking photos of the landscape).
For Baguio’s premier park is most popular for families and friends who enjoy the only wide open space in the Central Business District of Baguio. For where trees used to stand are now multi-storey buildings that have engulfed the city’s landscape.
On that occasion, Councilor Perlita “Pinky” Chan-Rondez was guest speaker, and she excitedly revealed the politician’s plans for a massive re-design of Burnham Park. One thing that stood out in her speech was the promise that Burnham Park was to be a GREEN PARK (I led the applause that interrupted this speech for a bit to show how we did want Burnham Park to be precisely a green park).
After the speech came the talk of how our government leaders define a GREEN PARK. We did not trust that they knew what they were saying. A green park is a park where nothing much happens, except the enjoyment of nature. It is a wide expanse of green meadows, much like the Royal Parks of London.
It is alarming therefore, to read a recent news article on the city’s plans to pour in so much money, P144M initially, into Burnham Park for infrastructure projects that begins with the children’s playground.
To this project they plan to add a teenager’s area for exteme sports, then a major rehab of the Athletic bowl. I have been told that they plan to OF COURSE open up an area for a commercial establishments such as fast food franchises in this area.
In other words, Burnham Park will not be a GREEN PARK for relaxation but an AMUSEMENT PARK for recreation. In fact, the city will not treat it as a necessary expense to provide breathing space for a highly, uglified, commercial city in the mountains — they will in fact position Burnham Park as a low-rise commercial center with children’s activities to draw in the crowds. Our politicians see Burnham Park as prime real estate for commercial activities.
One would argue that Burnham Park is already an amusement park. Well that’s because we have allowed commerce into the park. There are carinderias for taxi drivers, there are flea markets. There are so many bikes for rent. There are so many lazy itinerant vendors who sit around with their wares (I call them lazy because they do not render a service by making lako to the residential communities — they just go where the people are and sit there). But like I say, to make Baguio beautiful again, LESS IS MORE.
In the words of Gene De Gua, we must protect EVERY INCH of green space in Burnham Park. We do need Burnham Park to be just a safe outdoor promenade, where we can walk, read, commune, jog and relax.
But in true Filipino fashion, our politicians feel that we must fill up open spaces with the same stores that can be found a few hundred meters away. No imagination and creativity at work here.
Baguio has about 140,000 students. Our schools do not provide them with a playground or recreation areas. They stuff students into buildings, concerned only with the money they will earn from delivering government-standard average education.
The Baguio mayor is the owner of one of the biggest schools in Baguio. His family, along with others is directly responsible for the congestion in the Central Business District, which is now full of cellphone shops, xerox centers, gaming internet shops and carinderias, 2nd hand clothing shops.
Their school cannot be called a true campus but merely a cluster of buildings, three of which were damaged in a recent fire. They do not have a playground, or even a quadrangle where students can gather.
The local governments, made powerful by Aquilino Pimentel’s Local Government Code, should not go into this kind of business for itself, because it is incompetent to do so. Business should be reserved for private business who provide capital and expertise for the running of the same, and who will take the necessary risks of making or losing the money. The city should merely regulate and collect taxes, and provide park areas for its residents.
And more than anything PARKS SHOULD BE BEYOND THE COMMERCE OF MAN.
Should we allow this travesty, we are saying goodbye to the last bastion of beauty and relaxation in Baguio. We are calling like minded people, those who are concerned about the quality of their lives to join us in this effort to reclaim our city as a wholesome relaxation center to join us in becoming more active participants in the re-building of our city and our nation.
You can do this by: commenting on this site, commenting on the mayor’s blog
- Maintaining your own blog, commenting on this site
- Writing to the mayor, commenting on the mayor’s blog
- Writing Letters to the Editor of the Baguio newspapers
- Telling others how you feel and waking them up, too.
- Joining us in the 3rd Baguio PAGASA workshop this April 21 (details to follow)
- Supporting green initiatives such as the bikers, artists, environmentalists
Wake up, Baguio!
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umm lisa, tsk tsk, kitschy kitschy thing to do. we are living in inverted times. what used to be bad bad, is now good good. what used to be bad taste is now good taste. eversince we voted the likes of their honors, domogan and vergara, everyone seems to be infected with it.
it was then mayor domogan who opened up burnham for parking space, particularly the road between the lake and the skating rink. then sir vergara introduced kitsch in baguio. and baguio was never the same.
if people want amusement, the different malls provide it. so why sacrifice burnham for another amusement place to go? haay, diak maawatan.
Amusement Park eh? Yes, I agree that government leaders doesn’t know what a GREEN PARK means. [Maybe their definition of a green park is a park that generate greens or money in short]They have a lot of plans for Burnham but in my eyes, its all a cover up because they grew sick of maintaining the park. [If you notice the city government is becoming less and less concerned about the health of the park. Hell, they don't care to even remove the vandalisms in the park itself] All they want is income income and more income. They forgot that they went into those government positions to be a PUBLIC SERVANT not to be a PUBLIC PARASITE.
It all boils down into this simple question:
Is it so hard to address what the public needs?
Hay naku, Resty,
Baguio it appears is a reflection of the times and the residents’ tastes, too. We elect politicians into office too easily (without requiring a program of action from them during the campaign) that they believe they’re architects and urban planners and businessmen.
We elect them, they reflect our taste.
But all is not lost — we rally together, we do not lose hope, we wake up everyone we know and talk to regarding this travesty. We can do this together!
Acid Rayne, you’re absolutely right!
Why is it so hard for them to address what we need — trees, water, sidewalks, clean air, etc.?
They are addressing the need to ‘amuse’ us so that, like children, we become distracted and not look deeper into their shenanigans.
“They are addressing the need to ‘amuse’ us so that, like children, we become distracted and not look deeper into their shenanigans.” – unfortunately, most of the people here in Baguio are victims of this.
Ironically, most people became indifferent that they just don’t care about it anymore.
Come one people of Baguio!
Don’t be indifferent! You can only be indifferent when you are dead!
Don’t let yourselves be abused even by the government! If we don’t act, they will just continue to oppress us.
If you want to be governed by Tyrants, go ahead and be indifferent. Maging manhid, bulag at bingi kayo. But If you want to do something for the future generations, act accordingly. Let the city government, and national government, know of what the people needs.
Its our right to be free men, use that right. If not, you maybe as dead as a corpse can be.
Hi Lisa,
The following is a paragraph from Reclaiming the concrete jungle under the column, Living Architecture by Marcos de Guzman Jr. In today’s issue of Phil Daily Inquirer, April 5, 2008:
“Homes are built leaving no space for a garden. Even the parks and open spaces allocated by the government are being converted into barangay halls, covered ball courts, police precincts, or parking spaces. Because the intention is worthy, most communities misconstrue that utilizing these open spaces for buildings is a sign of progress and common good. Sadly, the ecological balance in the area and the need for healthy breathing spaces are disregarded.”
Here’s the link:http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/theenvironmentreport/view.php?db=1&article=20080404-128460
Hi Resty,
Most times, the motives for doing so are not even good — as far as barangay halls, covered ball courts, police precincts, or parking spaces, these are projects that the local government personnel undertake as a way to derive personal kickbacks from ‘projects.’
‘If we don’t spend all that is in the budget this year, next year we will receive a smaller allocation.’
I’am not from Baguio but I do share your sentiments. What we lack nowadays are really green spaces in our cities and towns. Regrettably, our political leaders appear to have a different notion of what is best for us. They insist that more buildings and other infrastructural projects are much better than having open spaces. They think that these spaces serve nothing and are just waste of land resources. They do not know or just plain indifferent to the idea that we need to have open and green spaces to breathe and relax. We must knock some sense into their heads before they sell us all to skewed real estate developments all in the name of skewed sense of progress…
The atmosphere in Burnham is not even conducive to reading a book. Parang maalikabok kasi ang dating niya. Still lacks the much needed and truly clean and green space it should be. Jonathan Best talked about the grass wearng thin, and it still is up to now. Wish they’d concentrate on upgrading the grass even before they add more flowers and plants.
Hep, hep, hep, sandali lang, mga lola at lolo!
What’s wrong with Pinky Rondez’s and/or the Baguio Government Plan for Burnham Park?
Then way I see it –
(1) I will be able to afford bringing my kids to a place with trees. Isang jeep lang ang sasakyan namin, may paper tree na na makikita ang mga anak ko. Kasama na din ang cement log buildings na mukhang trees. Naku, hindi na siguro mapapansin ng bata yung dipirensiya! Tutal, bata pa naman sila, at ipapasok ko naman sila sa iskuwelahan ng mayor.
(2) May mabibilhan ako ng murang pagkain para sa aking mga chikiting. Hello???? For only P20, I could provide nutritious boiled sweet corn for each of my kids. I am even 100% sure that their immune systems will be boosted because the BFAD or whatever government agency that is supposed to check the food handlers have not checked these vendors or the food they sell. Wala kaya silang “Seal or Permit to engage in business”. May nakita ka na bang naka-attach sa kanilang kariton? Plus, libreng agents lurking in the air that has exhaust from the jeepneys and buses plying Burnham Park. Or parked in Burnham Park that will later be revved to start. I figured, siguro naman, bawas gastos ko na yan sa asthma medications or respiratory ailment medications dahil lalaki ang mga anak kong naturally defensive. Matibay ang tiyan, matibay ang lungs. Baka pa matibay sa sentimento ng Environmentalists.
(3) At habang nag-eenjoy ang mga chikiting, eh, di puwede akong mag-liwaliw sa mga Starbucks (Ang mahal kaya ng kape nila! Ibig sabihin, ang may afford lang niyan, may kaya… at pag nagsuot ako ng mini skirt, eh, baka may mabingwit pa… Forget daytoy lakay ko nga kurang sweldo na!), at ano pa mang kapihan ang gusto nila. Tsismis kasi sa akin, mumamahal na ang rates sa Country Club at John Hay … at dahil wala ng gaanong foreigners or foreign firms dito, eh di kumokonti na pala ang nakakapunta doon… hmmm… ang Burnham, okay na para sa mga dating may P (pera, pisonalidad, at punyetang Privilege “whatever” na yan)
(4) P… Pwede na din akong magtinda sa Burnham. Para makakuha ng Green bucks na banggit nung nag-comment sa blog na ito diyan sa itaas…. After all, di ba all we need is money? Pag may money ka, may honey ka, life is sweet.
(5) Ang Baguio, gawa ng Lord. Libre naman ito eh. Kaya para kay Pinky at ng City Government, everyone has a RIGHT to enjoy Burnham Park. Anong Privilege, privilege to live in Baguio ang sinasabi nitong katabi ko? Eh, libre nga eh! E, di go Burnham Park/Amusement Park/whatever.
Ang tanong na “Ano nga ba ang Green?” hawig na ng kanta ni Kuh Ledesma na “Sino ang tunay na Baliw?”
Gets niyo? Or kiss my pwets?
Hi Bernard,
“They think that these spaces serve nothing and are just waste of land resources.”
Yup! They want to plant buildings not trees. They want us to suffer, live to survive, be dependent on them for the patronage they bestow upon the citizens using the citizens’ hard earned money.
Hi Resty,
More plants, better grass (no more motorcross events that tear up Melvin Jones, Mr. Mayor, please!), more shade, no jeepney depots or parked cars within, a bigger lake (wishful thinking), less bicycle stalls, no turo-turo, no illegal vendors pestering you and Burnham Park is back in the game!
The only thing I agree with with the Burnham Plan is the children’s playground rehab (but honestly even that can go.
Let the kids play the games we played — touch ball, tumbang preso, patintero, sipa. Let their imaginations run wild, let them run wild in the park. Kite flying on Sundays might be nice…
Lola with a High Kick,
You funny, you sarcastic. Sigue na nga! Lahat tayo mag-illegal vendor na rin!
Living in Baguio IS a privilege, though.
They talk about developing the park but right now they cannot even cut the grass so the park looks shabby all around. And the roads badly need a fresh asphalt overlay. It’s so easy to ‘develop’ but after that, what? Can we afford it’s upkeep? Go for the KISS(keep it simple, sweetie) principle to keep maintenance costs down.
Hiya Resty,
Honestly, Burnham Park is beautiful as it is — landscaping, clearing, cleaning, greening lang. The money would be better spent maintaining it as a peaceful wide expanse of green.
Leave amusement to the malls and private business — nothing the government does these days is amusing anyway…
Hello Lisa, the last thing Burnham needs are more structures and yet that is precisely what is in store. A children’s clubhouse, a what? And an amphitheatre for senior citizens. As I understand, the clubhouse will be where story-telling and the like will be held. But isn’t this why we send children to school? The amphitheatre, I really don’t know about that. But what about those in-between aged, like the teens or the yuppies or them in their 40’s, no space for them? Shucks, there goes our green park.
siak ni meyor yo. Aramidek nga amusement park daytoy ing-inguten tayo nga Burham park tapno agpatakderak iti dadakkel nga building ko. Sorry kayo laengen ta adda ti cuartak ken awan mabalinan yo. No kayat yo ken adda cuarta yo agpatakder kayo met a. Ngem masapol nga siak ti umuna. Paunaen dak pay met a nga agpili iti mayat a locasion. Di kayo man dita. Anya nga green green nga kun-kunaen yo met dita? Ado met ti green ditoy Baguio a-Green ti utak isu haan kayo madanagan. Haan ko kayat nga agpa-atiw kada Domogan ken Vergara nga pirmi ti baknang da ita. Apay ti kuna da isu da lang ti adaan iti poder nga ag-aprobar ken agpatakder iti ado a dadakkel nga building tapno ada porciento da. hehehe. uray siak met a. Ni Yaranon nagtanga ta haan na inusar diay poder na idi isuna ti Mayor. Sabali nga talaga ti lumakay anya? Imbag ketdin ta ado ti nag-botos kanyak nga estudiante. Siempre ubingak ken ubbing da met ket inusar ko ti kina-inosente da tapno maallukoy ko ida nga ibotos dak. hehehe. Ita masapol nga maisubli diay nagastos ko idi napalabas a kampanyak. Wen gayam, naglawaan idiay John Hay. Mayat sa nga agpatakder met ti dadakkel a building idiay tapno maka-cuartaak ti dakkel. 10 Million mabalinen nga ipabulsa da kinyak. Ibotos dak to manen tapno agkaramayat.
Hello meyorbautista,
Hahaha. I figured you are a Baguio resident who has decided to express his feelings using satire and in the local idiom, which is why I approved this comment in the comments queue.
While my understanding of Ilocano is pretty limited (so dear readers, I cannot translate this for you), I must say I loved the “anya nga green green nga kun-kunaen yo met dita” part.
Hi Ms Lisa,
Yes Ma’am, I live and was born in Baguio though for the past 10 years I got my living here in Manila and go home every weekend to bond with my family and not miss anything that is happening in our beloved hometown. Time is short and I must feed my memories with whatever is left with the cool and green Baguio-I admit it still is cool. I must gaze at the pine trees left because I fear I may not see them again. If you live in two contrasting places-in my case Baguio and Manila-you can just see the stark difference of a congested city and an on-going soon to be congested city that’s why even if some convince me to move my family to Manila I strongly refuse. My children must taste of whatever is still left of Baguio. IMO, nothing compares to the atmosphere of having your children go to school in Baguio but of course I only say this because it’s my hometown. Yes, I remember going to school every morning walking along the pine tree lined Leonard Wood Rd going to Mines View especially on the cold Ber-Months with my mouth as if a smokestack and my hands getting stiff they have difficulty writing on a notebook. This is just what I want my children to experience. I must admit though that there are high-quality schools in Manila.
I don’t know what will happen in the future but the signs are not too good for a Green Baguio. Sometimes it boils down to survival? Aanhin pa ang damo kung wala nang kabayo? What would a Green Baguio do to its starving residents? I think this is the line of philosophy of the politicians and surprisingly so with almost of the residents, drivers-especially these ones who are so notoriously “filosofos” that almost all of them are members of the Guardians who think they are the masters of Baguio and must be feared recruiting young adults and students to join them. I even remember one time my brother and I had an argument and the Guardians was one of our hot topics and I came to criticize the group as destabilizers though I have no proofs but even the most dumb would know what a humbug they are and to my surprise my brother told me I was lucky I was his brother or else I would have been gone or would have eaten what the dogs could not even eat-I prefer the dog. You can just imagine how crooked their minds are. That’s my own brother gone wild and became MANLY. But then again, that’s off-topic but a reality in my face.
Ah meyorbautista,
Kung wala namang damo, mamamatay din ang kabayo. Folks must realize that the survival of the environment is directly related to their own survival. These two are not mutually exclusive, and in fact interdependent.
The residents are not starving, just desperate for more, just wanting more — which is their right. With the city getting congested (too much breeding going on, especially among the students), there are not enough resources in this small city to give everyone their due.
Public schools have 70 students in a classroom! Too much migration from the lowlands by those who only take from the city. So many bums, and squatters galore, and soon street children.
The mayor is turning his back on tourism which is a source of livelihood for many — guides, transportation, handicrafts, lodging, even the Saint Bernard “Doglas!”
“Education” as the main business of the city, if Bautsta has his way, will produce only hordes of people who are wanting employment, and make only a few families rich and powerful.
Sorry about your brother. There are many insecure folks in this city wanting to be big fish in this little pond.
If mayor Bautista is turning his back on tourism, resurrecting a beautiful Baguio will take generations before it’s fulfilled or will it be? I’m not surprised with this as he’s a politician and a businessman in “Education” as you’ve quoted. He’s no environmentalist. Remember the garbage incident? To think of maintaining Burnham Park is the last thing that will come to his mind. He has to sustain their family business by attracting more people to go to Baguio and hopefully they will enroll at their university and that means more money for them.
The more people pouring in, the more business opportunities will come in and who will be the first to grab those opportunities but them who are rich and powerful? Sure they will provide jobs-jobs they say are generated and are meant for the local residents but it turns out to be a complete lie. So comes the people from the lowlands and nobody can blame them.
When people start losing their jobs or dropping out of school-for they better stay put than go back home and be humiliated by their neighbors and their family, they have to think of something else in order to earn something and to stay in Baguio. Who wouldn’t be? After all, the climate is lovely. And there goes the small vendors all over Burnham Park and anywhere else.
Hi meyorbautista,
Baguio is still beautiful, just covered in jeepneys, tarpaulin, squatters and garbage. Now all these are removable in an instant, aren’t they?
I believe that while Filipinos must be able to relocate anywhere in the Philippines they please, they must be made to perform as productive members of the society they are entering into.
The way the city is attracting hordes of “takers” and not givers is a shame. Luring them here with promises of education, jobs, livelihood when there is no program therefor is bad, when all the politicians want is a horde of uneducated voters, so they can continue pushing all those plans of planting more buildings than trees in the City of Pines.
Case in point: Satellite markets are squatter areas where the migrant owners are allowed to reside in their stalls (ah, where’s the plumbing, if you know what I mean?”
Another case: Colorum taxis and jeepneys of about 8,000 total — ah, where did all these professional drivers come from? Don’t tell me they were all just hanging around in Baguio waiting for the opportunity to drive. And yet, none of these fellows are making a decent living because there is a supply that exceeds the demand.
Another case in point: Illegal vendors, a lot of them from the deep South, have suddenly arrived by the thousands to sell trinkets, pirated DVDs, Divisoriaa goods. They are being coddled by specific politicians, allowed to sell all over Burnham Park and will be rewarded with a night market that does nothing for the city.
And our taxes get to pay for all their children’s free education in our public schools. Their presence will not justify the number of illegal extra puvs the government has allowed to operate without franchises.
The restoration of Baguio to its former glory is a matter of political will by both the government AND the residents. Absent this, we have petitions circulating all over the web and elsehwere signed by concerned citizens here and abroad.
That such petitions exists should be considered a matter of shame by the folks in charge. That is evidence, as the uglification is evidence, of their incompetence and greed.
Tje problems of Baguio are many, and they are man-made.
You should see the skating rink now, it has become another children’s playground partly fenced in with hallow blocks now. The vandalism goes on.
Well Resty,
If the politicians do not pour cement, they might go into withdrawal.
Most likely they succeeded in privatizing the area. They have been looking for someone who’ll foolishly pay Php120,000 a month in rent for the skating rink.
Unimaginative as they are, they are not into providing good housekeeping so that business and civil society will thrive in the city.
Their idea of governance is, Baguio is our real estate, and we will build and collect rent. They make money while pouring cement, and make money out of rentals, never even thinking that they are destroying the city. Or do they know that and just don’t care?
Another thing Lisa, they are soliciting donations for that so called fencing of Burnham. A cool 60,000 per span. Look at the actual of it before making a pledge. Personally, I think it’s over-priced.
Lisa,
May gusto lang po akong itanong…si Mayor Bautista po ba ay born and raised in Baguio? Sa pagbabasa ko kasi ng mga write-ups and comments, and the way the devastation of Baguio continues, it seems to me he doesn’t care at all in bringing back the former glory of Baguio.
Hi Lalaine,
Born and bred, belongs to one of the city’s oldest migrant families. His grandfather Fernando Bautista started the family business, University of Baguio.
And it seems to me the reason he is mayor is to protect the family business, not necessarily the city.
The other folks in charge are Baguio born and bred, too.
Maybe it will take someone who is not from here to turn things around for the city. Someone who has a clear vision of the past and the future.
More of it:
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/baguio/burnham-theme-park-suggested
OMG! Greed really does blind a person’s sight of what is beautiful in this world. I remember the old Baguio City where I once looked upon pine tree covered mountains… Nowadays, one can see nothing much but just houses and buildings painted in all kinds of colors. And sometimes, just plain old yero at kahoy lang ng mga SQUATTERS! What will become of our beloved city when baranggay captains look the other way when it comes to dealing with these squatters? They are everywhere…just like ants and other pests in a picnic.
I agree, there are educational divides between white students and black students. ,
Hi Anon,
And now the vice mayor, Farinas, wants to distribute the land to them — as if it is his property to give away.
When will Baguio City elect leaders who love the city, who will govern not uglify it?