Baguio Insider

I do not bring my cars around in Baguio anymore, except to Camp John Hay and Baguio Country Club. I walk along Leonard Wood or take one of the thousands of taxis that we have during those rare times I go ‘downtown,’ which is about 1.5k from my house. There’s just no parking anywhere, you see. And this is because the locals take up all the parking on Session Road to sell their second hand cars. Session is one big used car display these days, with signs tacked onto the rear windows with cellphone numbers. How much does this cost these people? P20/day, unlimited hours. That’s just Php600/month. (more…)

Here we go again! First they want to set up a flea market, albeit a temporary one, to ‘uglify’ Burnham Park and give the street hawkers and itinerant vendors a ‘home’ using an area of the park considered ‘idle land.’ Helloooo — parks are supposed to be idle. Like nothing on them except benches, and the occasional activity. That’s the reason for their existence — to give us some peace and quiet and allow us to breathe. Why are our government officials so eager to stuff crappy-looking businesses into it? As if the eateries there, including the restaurants on either side are not decrepit enough.

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This year April showers came in May, and May flowers are still abloom in June. Summer 2007 came to a close when the school year started yesterday. Although Atenara is still pretty much booked for the weekend, with Balikbayan guests just starting their vacations, and with Koreans coming by the planeload for crash courses in English, Baguio’s “low season” seems to be in high gear, with traffic jams all over the city, and lots and lots of people on the road.

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The answer is a resounding NO! I scanned the web for the names and numbers of those who actually died from the disease and found conflicting accounts from 4 to 8 to an exaggerated 25 persons but no names, nothing definite. Then there were reports from our local journalists adding to the scare by reporting large numbers of “suspected” cases. And all for what — so the local government in 2005 could get access to 12,000,000 pesos in calamity funds.

Folks, that was the whole point, don’t you see?

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I just had to post this photo of the Loakan Airport Runway in Baguio City to kick off the “Only in Baguio” series.

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