Baguio Insider

My heart aches for Baguio, for what it has become.

My heart aches for my country, for how we Filipinos exist and not live.

My heart aches for beauty and clean air and the absence of pollution (air, noise and visual), and the ability to walk in peace and safety.

My mind is starved for intelligent conversation.

My person is longing for folks who love Baguio more than they love themselves, for folks who love themselves enough to know that Baguio’s success is important for their own success.

In a few hours we start the Workshop For a Better Baguio. While the initial response was good, a number of folks who were to attend suddenly had more important things to attend to. Family, Church, Business.

Well, here’s to the few good men and women who will attend. I am excited to meet the few folks in Baguio who are actually wiling to be agents of change while others sit back and complain.

Once, someone commented to my challenge in another blog about bloggers merely writing and complaining, saying that bloggers need not prove themselves. Instead of starting an argument in someone else’s virtual real estate, I chose to put my money where my mouth is. I am sponsoring this workshop. Folks have come from as far as Iloilo to facilitate it, giving their services for free.

For I blog and write to make the world a better place, not to merely put my observations in writing. While I appreciate (oh boy, do I ) all the comments this blog has received, I wish for folks to finally stand up and be counted for or against something. To take to the streets if we have to. To stop being lazy and reap the benefits that others have taken a risk for.

If you are in Baguio to merely take what you can from it, LEAVE! Be a visitor who spends on Baguio once in a while. We clean up after you but do not have to live with you year round.

Baguio is a city that is fragile. Its strength lies in its natural beauty. The beauty is there but will be lost soon, the way the residents are trashing it. If you can live with this mess, you are not the kind of person I want as my neighbor. You are not the kind of person Baguio needs.

If you like the free airconditioning, then you must prevent the cutting of trees.

If you are upset by the pollution, then don’t bring out your car, don’t ride a jeep, just walk.

If you are worried that there are too many Muslims suddenly, then stop buying pirated DVDs.

If you want Baguio to be safe, then know your neighbors, safeguard your neighborhood and not just your house.

If you are worried there are too many Koreans doing business illegally, then report them to the authorities.

The point here is, Baguio resident, you cannot stop at being just a resident, commuting back and forth to work. You have to take that extra step to make Baguio better.

If you are not Be an agent of change, you are part of the problem solution.

The workshop starts at 8:30, 40 C.M. Recto Road. Feb 9 and 10. Please be there.