Baguio Insider

Joe Lansang of Manila Cafe, who now lives in Poughkeepsie, New York, sent me a few months ago a link to a photo website by Russel Ariola that features old and new photos of Baguio attractions and landmarks side-by-side. This post title is actually the title of his site. I imagine what painstaking efforts have been exerted to come up with those comparisons. You guys should check it out!

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Instead of the members of the city council behaving as ‘urban developers,’ insisting on erecting parking buildings on Burnham, satellite markets on the sidewalks, and uglifying Baguio, they should stop, think/research, listen/debate, LEGISLATE. That’s what they were elected for. And one subject they can really look into, as per my humble suggestion, is Baguio real estate taxes.

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Gray skies and the unwillingness to post photos that make Baguio look unattractive have prevented me from adding a photo of the Engineer’s Hill satellite market for this post. Located in an uber-prime location between Session Road Extension and Leonard Wood Road lies a colony of small, privatized government lots called Engineer’s Hill. This area is about just 1km from the Baguio City Market and is visible to a lot of visitors to Baguio also because the elegant Victory Liner terminal is located there. (more…)

Great news!

According to The Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Baguio Centennial Commission, headed by mayoral uncle Virgilio Bautista, is planning to build a museum at the old Diplomat Hotel location on Dominican hill because, as they say, it has a good view of the city plus there are trees all around the grounds.

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Last Sunday’s front page headline at the Philippine Daily Inquirer ‘Meralco cuts rates by 43c‘ and above it, taking about a third of the whole page was a large photo of Baguio that said:

‘CITY ON ROLLING HILLS: Baguio on a moonless night is picturesque, its twists and turns defined by lights swarming through its inhabitated spaces. And in the darkness, one doesn’t see that the pine trees are gone.’

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