Melting in Manila While Another Building Burns in Baguio
I have been in Manila for a week, and honestly I am reminded every waking moment why I love living in Baguio. My part of Baguio remains filled with trees and the rooms do not require airconditioning. I can take long walks and enjoy the garden without perspiring. Here there’s no need to towel off even after a bath — the water droplets simply evaporate!
Upside to living in Manila, the wash gets dry in an hour — hahaha — and there’s no need to warm up the room after a bath.
But as Bhen Cervantes told me once, he preferred cooler places to warm ones because “In a cold place you can use layers of clothing, in a hot place, you can get naked only so much!”
It bugs me though that Nico and I were not around to cover the Tiongsan Harrison fire. Drat, drat & double drat!
- What’s with building owners and the fire department in Baguio? Considering how damp Baguio usually is, we have experienced two major fires less than two months apart! Accident or arson, still the fault of the owners for not taking safety precautions. Accident or negligence, still the concern of fire safety standards being implemented by the Baguio Fire Department.
- When I was applying for a business permit a decade ago, the Fire Department dude was only concerned with selling me fire extinguishers! I was transferring to a new location for my restaurant in July 1997, so my fire extinguishers were newly reloaded as of January that same year. He tells me I need two fire extinguishers without inspecting the location, by the way, just over the phone (”One in the dining room, one in the kitchen”). When I told him I already had two of my own, he suddenly changes his mind about my fire safety equipment requirements and says, “Oh, in that case, you need FOUR!”
- I’m thinking, with so many buildings catching fire, shouldn’t the Fire Department require the installation of sprinkler systems for buildings?
- I’m thinking: will the mayor again make a speech lauding Baguio for passing another test? Or since it was not his building that burned, will he call for a review of his city’s fire safety standards, or call for an investigation into the fire? Or, since he did not do that when his school buildings burned down, will he now feel estopped from pointing a finger at the owners’ negligence, if ever?
- Then there was a neighbor in Quezon Hill, actually a shanty down the cliff of my side of the hill. Wife’s cooking lunch on a Tuesday, goes to the neighborhood basketball court to fetch her husband (doesn’t anybody work anymore these days?), leaves the fish frying in the pan. The fish burns down their shanty plus two other adjacent shanties. I’m thinking, galing nila no?
- On the occasion of that same fire in Quezon Hill, another neighbor converted their garage into a school and would park their two vehicles outside, taking up a a big part of that road (which is more of a paved alley). That, of course, blocked the fire trucks passage. That man would throw his weight around the neighborhood saying he worked in City Hall, screamed at me once when I was backing up my cars from my 4-car garage. Well, Karma came and knocked on his door, in the form of a fire truck ramming his parked vehicles to get them out of the way.
While here, I have been working on our family business, a 40-year old steak house, some rental spaces on Tomas Morato, plus a new project of a party venue / dance hall. The money in Manila is way bigger than Baguio, and the neighbors here are very cordial and we coordinate to make our neighborhood and business safer and better. When a city hall project is in the works, we dialoque with Sonny Belmonte.
- In our neighborhood in Quezon City, our garbage gets picked up Mondays and Thursdays. There is no such thing as garbage being piled up in a location of some Baguio residents’ choosing. I don’t see laundry hanging out to dry, visible from the street. It would be a very middle class neighborhood I live in, too. The folks here are just so mannered.
- Each block in Barangay Laging Handa (that’s the Scout Area to you) is to have a leader who will monitor the names or each resident and act as a representative in barangay meetings. We call these subsets a ’sitio.’ I’m thinking that maybe, Baguio can do that on a per street basis or per hill basis, too.
- Neighbors must get to know each other and determine for themselves the direction their neighborhood is to take. We should stop abdicating our right to govern ourselves to the police and the politicians. We must take charge of our future.
- Line of communication between those in charge and the constituents must never close. But mechanisms must be put in place so that it can be determined that it is the will of many that will prevail, and not just the whims of a few.
In the news, Pinky Rondez has proudly announced that Burnham Park is a free Wi-Fi Zone!
- What this article fails to mention that while the service is free for all those near the Burnham Lake area, it does not state how much this service is costing the city. How much did the installation cost? How much will we pay monthly? Is this a necessary expense?
- For Baguio residents and visitors with laptops or notebook computers, hi-tech handheld phones, that’s good news.
- So now, instead of reading a book, picnicking with the family, watching your children play, you can now sit on a mat and stare into a lifeless computer and amuse yourself, or catch up with the life you left behind back home while on vacation.
For someone who has not been able to live without a laptop since the early 1990s, I am the least likely person you should find complaining! It’s just that Burnham Park for me is a place of peaceful relaxation, where I can commune with nature — not bring electronic devices to watch a DVD (or listen to the noise from other people’s computers) or do my work.
- Honestly, I would be happier if I were told that Rondez caused the removal of all illegal vendors from their commercial activities in the parks instead. It is very hard to enjoy Burnham Park with so many folks approaching you, selling trinkets, fruits, toys and whatnots. If I want to shop I will go to the market. I kinda hate it when the market comes to me.
But that’s hard, no? Because the only way politicians know how to stay in power is to coddle the squatters. The illegal vendors ARE commercial squatters (and most likely residential squatters, too). And we are allowing them to do just that through our apathy, and by being so happy with being ‘given’ what we think is ‘free’ stuff, like wireless internet.
- Am so afraid that because of this government’s thrust on commercialism — yup, the vice-mayor announced that last month as a paradigm shift! - next thing we will see in Burnham Park is Jollibee, Starbucks, a food court, etc. Please tell me this is not going to happen! That Burnham Park will be a green park where nothing happens, just giving the folks the ability to breathe.
Of course it is hard to compare Manila to Baguio (with me thinking, nay insisting) that the latter provides a far superior quality of life. But honestly, with the direction Baguio is taking, the malls, the traffic, the pollution — we are a poor imitation of a city. We have decided to embrace the ills of a fast city, while sacrificing nature and our graceful quality of life.
I melt in Manila only if I insist on walking the one block from by house here to our restaurant. Otherwise I move from my airconditioned room to my airconditioned car to my airconditioned office.
The people in Baguio insist folks come up for the weather — I think that’s a lot of baloney. Others insist they come up to sleep. What schools did these people graduate from? Why would anyone trying to escape the traffic in Manila, brave the traffic of Pangasinan and Tarlac, only to be met with more traffic in Baguio?
Folks would visit Baguio, or like me, choose to live here, because it used to be the most beautiful place in the Philippines. Adding to the perfect surroundings was the weather, the cordial residents, and a sense of time virtually standing still and waiting for us to finish our tasks for the day.
I remember though when Manila was breezy, and sometimes even chilly. Now, on some days in Baguio, sometimes it’s hot. The trees are disappearing, making way for ‘development’ and convenience. Well, Baguio will soon be inconveniently, like old Manila, warm. As it is we are only relatively cooler nowadays, not chilly all throughout anymore.
We allege that it is due to global warming. So Baguio, what are we doing to combat global warming? What are we doing to reverse this situation? Nothing. We are, by our direction of ‘education’ (22,000 students in 13 tall buildings set so close to each other) and ‘commercialism’ (allowing malls to cut down trees and replace them with concrete mountains), we are in fact contributing to the destruction of the earth.
Honestly, Baguio, is this what we want?
I don’t like the idea of making burnham park a free wifi zone and here are some of my reasons:
1) It seems that this campaign seeks to please the people going up to Baguio, not the people in Baguio. I’m not saying that people here in Baguio are not updated or that they are “low tech” (as some lowlanders tell us) but the fact that the majority here in Baguio doesn’t have a laptop, and there are a lot of internet cafe’s in the central district itself, why bother with the wifi?
2) “Free wifi zone” - In all my days in the IT/CS side, I learned a lot of things regarding computers, networks, databases, etc. From what I’ve been reading about this proposal is that price = performance. Sure, there are a lot of free sites that offer free software but the quality is reluctant at some times, same is through to wifi services.
3) wifi enabled PDA/PDA phones are expensive for the average citizen. Furthermore, wifi is slower here in the Philippines (not like other countries that the people get their tax’s worth) True, its free but I dont have the patience to wait for the whole day while the browser tries to open my e-mail or my web site.
3) Why would I bring my laptop (if ever I have one) whenever I go to burnham park? Seriously! If I plan to go to burnham, I wont even think about bringing a laptop. If I go to burnham, i will go there because I want to feel the tranquility of the park (which is slowly declining rapidly)
I still have a lot of doubts about this wifi zone integration to burnham park but I just said the basic points. Besides, I don’t want to talk about the technical issues. Some may not understand me.
It seems that you’re absolutely right Lisa, they really don’t know what a green park is.
Hi Lisa,
With all the issues listed down, it’s very overwhelming! The pollution is really an immediate concern since it directly affects the public health. Noise and air pollution has tremendously gone worse. Looking through a foreigner’s eyes, the town proper is filthy and disorganized. All the overpass structures(from Abanao to Magsaysay avenue) need some serious cleaning. The city can invest on power washers to keep the dirt down. What does it take to get people scramble to their feet to clean up? A disease outbreak?
Why the shift on the focus from tourism to education? Baguio has been an education center of of the North for as long as I can remember. Why not have both? Many local people rely on tourism for their livelihood. It still boggles my mind why people send their children to schools with less than 75% board passing rate.
Some parts of Baguio still has the unique charm but the city needs the people to care enough to improve/maintain/preserve/restore. I can’t understand why it’s so difficult for some people to throw their trash in the trash can. Such a simple thing to do to contribute to the cleanliness but I’ve seen the increased number of signs saying “Bawal Magtapon ng Basura dito.”
Lisa, I don’t like the sticky feeling in my skin whenever I’m in the lowlands.
Burnham as a Free WiFi zone? Its like the ZTE project again! Why would you create a broadband connection for the government units when most of the units in the provinces dont even have computers. Now its a free WiFi zone on a park why would you do that? Why would I bring my laptop in a park? When did a park become a place for internet surfing? huff!!! I really hate it when IT is used in the wrong way. My beloved field has a lot of potential to help us in our economy. That is if we use it wisely. As what i see now its the new “cement”. When there is cement there is corruption!!!
Hi AcidRayne,
I agree that wi-fi in a park is unnecessary — unless they plan to add restaurants and commercial establishments in Burnham Park (which I think they’re planning to do in the very near future).
We must stop these people!
I hope folks get the point of local government’s unilateral paradigm shift towards commercialism. How it is bad for Baguio.
Hi Tina,
Yup, it’s getting bad, and folks do not know where to begin. They’re just happy to survive. Just like the movie “The Matrix,” they think they’re living in a nice world but what they do not realize is that every Filipino is a battery that fuels a corrupt state.
Hi Resty,
Manila is humid, the lowlands are hot. But it is that sticky feeling of all that water that keeps our skins soft and smooth and looking young.
In Baguio, because its cool, the opposite of humidity is dampness.
Hi Dan,
You got it! That’s how it is in the Philippines — something we must change: “When there is cement there is corruption!!!”
Lisa:
Wi-Fi in Burnham? That’s crazy. What’s next: something a’la The Podium near the Athletic Bowl? Is Wi-Fi what we really want for a park that has roads in need of paving, lawns in need of trimming, and promenades in need of lighting? Insane.
Anyway, I live near Quezon Avenue, too (UP Diliman Commonwealth area). Last I heard, there’s a funeral parlor that serves free wi-fi. Now that I can understand. Wi-fi in a park? Tsk, tsk… just whom exactly am I paying taxes to?
“What’s next: something a’la The Podium near the Athletic Bowl?”
Yup, Marck, if we allow them to, they will do just that. The Baguio politicians prefer to plant buildings (and flyovers & overpasses) instead of trees, you see.
Hi Lisa,
Marck is right about Burnham needing a fresh asphalt overlay where the bicycle lane is and the road between the lake and the skating rink. Pronto before the rains come. The black top will make Burnham look cooler and ‘cool.’
Free Wifi at Burnham? I’m happy with that! Nahh I’m sad, no Im happy, no Im sad…whatever lol.
The real thing is “I love Baguio City”
Hi Geri,
Hahaha! That’s how I feel, too. Am happy to be living in Baguio, unhappy with Baguio today, happy SM came, unhappy SM’s might overran the mom and pop businesses, happy about modern conveniences, unhappy about the traffic, happy it’s easy to hail a cab, unhappy there are too many of them.
So I guess it’s understandable, us swinging both ways.
Hmmm, free wi-fi in Burnham Park? Where my laptop may get STOLEN when I just stretch from laying on my stomach after 20 minutes of having logged on? And the stealing done by migrants and/or travelling thiefs who come up to Baguio because a lot of people come to enjoy our cool surroundings at very affordable Burnham Park where they can sleep all day and eat all day and do whatever all day?
Let’s think about it.
I’d rather stay home, make sure I water my potted plants, and be at peace. What about you?
Like you, Prudence, I’d rather stay home.
Cannot afford to inhale all that carbon monoxide from the Central Business Jeepney Depot.
I used to live in Burnhamview Condominium on Kisad Road for 4 years — could never cross Burnham to get to Session. Some jeepney or the other that finally got filled up with passengers would emit the most odious black smoke and soil my shirt every time.
But what’s the point of living in Baguio if we can’t enjoy the great outdoors?!
There is a GREAT OUTDOORS in Baguio City? Where? Where?
It’s become a concrete jungle! On a hill!
And the thieves (sorry for my mistake previously - I’m getting complacent from texting) may just be the ones who sign away the DENR permits or subdivision permits converting land of trees to land of concrete. Weird.