Small Town Talk
More than a decade ago, my OIC at Halfway House in Camp John Hay was replacing his counterpart, a beautiful morena Filipina, who had caught the eye of a very nice young man at the Camp John Hay front office.
Upon alighting from the bus and getting into a Baguio taxi, he was asked, “Where to?” and he said, “Camp John Hay.”
“Where there?” asked the cabbie, and he replied “I work at Halfway House.”
Much to his surprise, the taxi driver says. “Di ba doon yung nililigawan ng cahero ng John Hay yung manager ninyo?” (”Isn’t your manager there being courted by the cashier at Camp John Hay?”)
The OIC was shocked at how far news travels in Baguio, considering there was absolutely no connection between the cabbie and the other persons in the story.
It’s just that this is a small town and folks love to shoot the breeze.
Thus, when I was visited by three groups of folks at my home office today, I was not surprised to hear the latest “chismis” (rumor, talk) going around the city:
1. A very good friend of mine had a romantic organic lunch with her much older suitor from the Visayas in a “by reservation only” exclusive restaurant in Baguio, after which they departed for the Visayas.
2. A top city official had a very important meeting with the jueteng lord of Baguio-Benguet at a restaurant known for its pancakes very recently where it was agreed that the former was to receive Php60,000/day as his share for allowing the illegal gambling operations to continue in Baguio.
WIth 1,800,000 in his pocket monthly, I figure this official will have more than enough in his campaign kitty when he runs for office once again in 2010. Or with 43.2 MILLION in his pocket after two years he can actually retire and stop causing this city harm. But I bet you Php1.00 he will never want to stop — not with Php60,000 DAILY just for being alive.
3. The same top city official is holding talks with the owner of a huge shopping mall chain where he has agreed in principle to not only allow the felling of 400-500 trees, the building of multi-storey buildings, but that he would do everything in his power to ‘give’ the latter the city’s convention building, too.
4. Recently, I was on the phone with an official of a facility that has many factories and he confirmed that 234 or 264 trees were to be cut down to make way for the expansion of a factory manufacturing guidance systems, among other things, into the Camp John Hay reservation, that contrary to news reports, not 1,300 trees were to be felled, but “JUST 200+”
But this was during my hiatus as a blogger and the news was all over the papers anyway so I figured not to write about it.
5. Just think though, that these people are planning to obliterate 600+ trees, excluding in the count those that Ayala allegedly plans to do away with also when they build their shopping center in Camp John Hay.
6. There are mixed stories and speculation about the new ‘developments’ in Camp John Hay, to wit:
- Is anyone in Camp John Hay ever planning to pay rent to the government?
- Is Ayala going to be party to the - yet another - call center that will be erected in there, or is this a completely different deal?
- If the answer to the above is the latter, how many more trees will disappear?
- How can the Department of Environment and Natural Resources allow the mass destruction of our remaining forest covers?
Well guys, I am not a newsperson, nor is Baguio Insider a newspaper (yet), so I can actually have a new category or tag that is called “Small Town Talk.”
I do not always have the resources to investigate these allegations, and have no reason to want to risk libel.
Thus, I figured, if a ‘respected’ newspaper like Midland can have a large ‘true or false’ blind item section where they can actually allege anything they please, then Baguio Insider can very well have a new category that is based on actual sightings, information that comes straight from the horses’ mouths, insider secrets, but basically informal news from sources that I trust but do not wish to have their identities revealed, and who at the same time trust that I will protect them in my personal capacity.
Another reason for this is because I figured, if the news has reached me, and I hardly even enter the city center nowadays except to buy supplies, then those of you who actually see and hear the goings on can actually verify if these things are true, can argue with me and other commenters, if you wish.
By calling your attention to these, it allows you to keep your eyes and ears open, too.
Since I am not a news person, I cannot protect my sources like members of the press can. This however has not stopped quite a few from coming forward with distressing news regarding irregularities in the accounting of Panagbenga solicited and collected funds, for example, or the arrogant treatment by some councilors of the representatives of a bike club when they were defending the use of 2-stroke engines.
Finally, I have decided to include this because in my past 17 years here, I have learned that when there is a buzz in a town as small in size as Baguio, all that talk is most likely well-founded.
