On Villains and Heroes
Apparently, the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) subsidizes Burnham Park operations to the tune of Php5,000,000.00. And it has recently chosen to delay the issuance thereof because it apparently is dissatisfied with the way the city government is maintaining it.
City Administrator Peter Fianza is upset that the “PTA is now telling off the City Government.” Well, sir, if the money comes from them, they should be able to tell you guys how the money should be spent. Since this goes towards paying the salaries of the Park employees, then they should be able to comment on their performance or lack thereof, at the very least. After all, what’s the point of giving Baguio the money if it will not be put to good use?
An iron hand, sir, for the good of the city — not only cleanliness, but security, too. Get rid of the vendors. Are they long-time residents really? Or just up here because they have noticed that Baguio is one of the most squatter-friendly places in the country? They make us look cheap. Do not issue them permits. If they have nothing to do but peddle, they have no business being here.
I noticed that we have the same items as Manila now being sold literally on the road, cigarettes, candies, flannel rags. Next thing you know barquillos, ampao, rolling boiled peanut carts, dog leashes, toilet decloggers. And while we’re at it, a gazillion taho vendors who dirty up the city by scooping out the first layer of the taho and throwing it wherever they please everytime they sell a cupful.
Folks who want to do business here should INVEST. In their stores, in the city. Create employment. Not just milk the city for what it can give them and then take the money and run. We do not need people like that. Later on, if they do not earn enough, they will take to stealing. And who are these people? Not the Cordillera natives, not the Baguio old-timers.
The unkempt state of Burnham Park is the council’s excuse to spend Php400-M on it. Of what use is spending all that money if the policies of allowing these people there remains the same? If the whole attitude of the local government is that it is acceptable to keep Baguio overcrowded and dirty?
The security of Baguio lies in everybody knowing everybody, in what used to be a small town. In what used to be clean and classy surroundings, attracting only well-mannered residents and visitors. Current government policies and attitudes encourage the migration of the poorest people from the lowlands to take advantage of our beautiful surroundings, but who do not give back to the city. And don’t tell me these peddlers are not also the squatters. They both squat on our hillsides to live, and squat on our streets while doing business.
And to think that this was a problem known to the local government even when Mauricio Domogan was mayor. Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) wrote in 2000:
Most of the structures there have no building permits and belong to squatters. Some were even within the Crystal Cave watershed reservation. But up to now, the local government remains reluctant to force them out of the high-risk area. Reasons Baguio Mayor Mauricio Domogan: “If we demolish them, they will accuse us of being anti-poor. Whether you like or not, even if your intentions are for their own well being, they will file cases in court and we will end up being the villain here.”
If past administrations were too cowardly to look after the safety of the residents for fear of being unpopular, let this administration do what is heroic and right for the city and its people. Believe me, anything you do that does not allow the poor to do as they please will be deemed anti-poor anyway.
Be my ‘villains’ then! Make Baguio safe and beautiful again.
Hi Lisa,
We should have a movement named: Bring back the classy Baguio we once knew! See, I have this very romantic image of my hometown in my mind and it’s very disheartening to know all these things happening. I didn’t know that there is a subsidy from the Philippine Tourism Authority, I thought that Burnham looks like it is now because the city only has the budget collected locally.
Hi Tina,
Baguio is very rich, literally. The reason our city looks like this now is because the folks who live here are precisely not classy, especially the past administrations. So it’s not a matter of funds, dear, just a matter of taste and political will.
Considering Go Baguio! came first, the topics in Baguio Insider are painful to bring up. But I want my old Baguio back before the people here destroy it, through ignorance and/or greed, which is why I have decided it is more important to risk turning off (through these posts) those whom I am enticing to visit Baguio than to keep silent.
Hmmm…from the grapevines:
1) Are people aware that one of the — allegedly — biggest squatters in the city come from a family that has entrenched the clan in politics? In so doing, they tolerated squatting in the city to have bailiwicks.
2) That one of the biggest resorts in the city — allegedly — doesn’t have a title to the land it is occupying?
3) That a former hillock was part of the government center that — allegedly — changed hands in a sequence of sequestration fiasco?
4) And what about that business monopoly that — allegedly — has a one-peso-a-year contract?
Had I been careful enough Atty. Lisa A.?
As much as I don’t like Morris(I don’t like him just as much I don’t like Jo Mol who even plans to give land as if it were bottomless to the unclassy and disrepectful squatters), he is partialy right. I think to sum it up, most poor Filipinos have the “victim mentality”. No wonder for generations, they remain poor. It’s not easy to “correct” the wrong of the poor people as there are many activists with twisted and extremely leftists ideology.
Extremely harsh as I may sound. It think the only driving force that would shoot he squatters is another a la 1990 earthquake. They live on sinking areas, right? For sure, uuwi na mga yan. Landslides can’t get them, let the earthquake do the job.
I’m not sure with this but I think one law that attracted those unclassy people is that people who have been squatting here since 1992 will be given the land. I remember hearing something like that, that Yaranon wanted to be re-implemented. The horror! To muc favoring the poor even if it’s not the right solution. Screw the leftists who imposed this kind of idea and look, it’s now useful weapon! Now, the whole country is deteriorating of such propaganda. Victim mentality