YOUR JOURNEY BEGINS...
...when the spirit moves you. Go to Baguio.
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| All photos by Kokoy... |
To Filipinos worldwide,
Baguio City exudes a certain mystique. Dubbed the summer capital by her American
founders, visitors have been flocking here regularly to revel in the crisp
mountain climate, mingle amongst the rich arts scene, and lose oneself in deep commune
with the heavens, entranced by majestic views of the Cordillera slopes.
The local economy of this area has not always lived on this steady diet of
tourism from the lowlands. In the precolonial era, the central mountains are
the domain of ancient tribes such as the Kankanaey, the Ibaloi, and the Ifugao, peoples thriving harmoniously with this land
for thousands of years since prehistoric times. Collectively, these nations are referred to as Igorot, but each is linguistically and culturally distinctive. These proud and fierce nations effectively defend their ancestral domain against the conquistadores and remain free of
colonial conquest during the Spanish era. Without colonial interference, these indigenous communities develop highly complex social systems and advanced agricultural production methods, famously iconized by the centuries-old rice terraces.
It isn't until the
Americans take over that the city of Baguio is established, and tribal rights within the Igorot's own domain are forcibly denied. Today, for most tourists, traditional culture is relegated to a post card image for selfies, often caricatured, underexamined and largely
misunderstood. The indigenous Cordillera people of today are modern, and yet carry an acute cultural awareness of their ancient traditions. Unlike the majority of Filipino city-dwellers who are of mixed blood, these tribal mountain civilizations are unconquered, and even today resist central government control, waging a constant struggle to recover their rights. Some tribespeople from nearby farms can be seen on city corners and markets selling fresh strawberries in their distinctive traditional garb, carrying thousands of years of history in their weathered skin and sun-darkened faces.
The historical injustices that bear out Baguio City notwithstanding, it remains one of the prime destinations of lowland Filipinos, almost like a rite of passage.
By now, you are so accustomed to the traveling conditions in the Philippines that a six- to seven-hour bus ride doesn't sound at all daunting. You know that the winding mountain highway has been developed, and Victory Liner, the main passenger carrier on the Manila-Baguio route, has been under intense scrutiny and pressure to maintain high safety standards. Moreover, November is the beginning of dry season in the Philippines, making for less treacherous surfaces on the winding roads up the mountains and down.
There are two Victory Liner terminals in Metro Manila - in Pasay and Cubao. Any competent taxi or Grab driver knows exactly how to get to either location from anywhere in the city. From Pasay, a one-way adult ticket to Baguio costs P497. With a valid student ID, it is P397. You can forego the ticket counter and pay your fare directly to the conductor on the bus along the way. However, round-trip tickets are not available, so if you have to make it back to Manila by a particular deadline, plan to purchase your return ticket once you arrive at the Baguio terminal just to make sure it doesn't sell out. At 1500 meters above sea level, be prepared for some relatively cooler temperatures - that's "cooler" by Philippine standards. In mid-November, expect lows in the 50's Fahrenheit at night, jacket weather, and highs in the 70's, a temperature range that partly explains Baguio's appeal to people from the perpetually hot and humid capital. Your jacket also comes in handy inside the bus, where you have to bundle up in the air-conditioning continuously blasting out of the overhead vents. It doesn't seem to matter which way you point the vent, there is a frigid draft blowing straight at your face. Bring a hat. Be sure to use the comfort room at the station prior to departure, as there is no CR in the bus, and the first rest stop isn't until the Motorway in Tarlac City about three hours into the trip. Be sure to make note of your bus number before you get off at the rest stops. There are typically multiple buses parked at these stations and some of them look alike.
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| Stay away from the lugaw... |
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| In case anyone is in search of a job... |
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| One thing you do like at Sison is the plastic recycling bin... |
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| There are many snack choices at Sison; just stay away from the lugaw... |
If you want to avoid the
desperation and embarrassment of pleading to the conductor to stop 20 minutes
before the final destination so that you can address sudden emergency digestive
needs, then stay away from the lugaw at Sison Stop in Pangasinan. Fortunately,
the driver knows exactly where to drop you off. The Petron station
on Ben Palispis Highway just on the outskirts of Baguio proper has relatively clean
comfort rooms. Prepare your P10 coin to pay the fee for #2 (P5 for #1). If you
need more than just the two measly toilet paper squares that the CR attendant
rations out to you at the entry table, and you do not have the forethought to
bring your own, purchase a pack of tissue in the adjoining convenience store. Inform
the attendant of your needs so he unlocks the stall for you.
Divine Mercy Church
Divine Mercy Church
Your emergency pit stop is not in vain. Walk about a block up the highway
towards town for a much-needed meditation pilgrimage at Divine Mercy
Church. As of this writing, the church is still in the process of
completion, workers industriously putting the final touches on the front
courtyard. The virgin interior, the altar and wooden pews glimmer in the
sunlight gathering from the open doors. The side terrace offers your first
glimpse of Baguio. Across the valley, multi-level edifices blanket the
mountainside, packed together in a combination of bright pastels, with
improvised shelters haphazardly tucked in spaces between them, replicating the
congestion typical of many growing Philippine cities.
Catching the jeepney into town from
Divine Mercy Church sounds a bit complicated, unfamiliar that you are with the
various landmarks the Petron cashier describes. An easy 12-minute taxi ride to
the Victory
Liner terminal in the center of town costs a little less than
P100. The return bus ticket to Manila purchased a day in advance is P501 per
adult, including P5 for traveler's insurance.
Checking In and Eating Out
If you have not reserved accommodations, consult the Tourism Assistance Center located just across from the Victory Liner building. Flip through their binders of information. Since you don't want to spend so much precious time sifting through the multitude of choices for the right pension house to stay at, settle for the first entry in the accommodations binder, Ferionni2. The room rate listed at P1497 per night includes a queen bed, cable TV and hot/cold shower, which is not bad for a family of three with a young child. The Tourism Assistance Center books the P50 van ride to your selected accommodation and accompanies you on an inspection of the room choices.
By the time you check in and freshen up, you are ready to explore dinner options. Ferionni2 is located only one quick 10-minute jeepney ride to the beating heart of Baguio City, Burnham Park. At the waiting shed just up the steep steps from Ferionni2's front porch, catch the jeepney going towards Campo Sioco. Baguio jeepney fare is the same as in Manila - P8 per ride. Get off at the final stop, in front of the ES Clemente Building, across from the north corner of Burnham Park. You will see long cues of passengers waiting from the jeepney station around the corner.
As you get off the jeepney, the aroma of roasting chicken immediately hits your
nostrils floating across the street from Marciana's.
The rotisserie apparatus strategically placed at storefront, skewers of whole
chicken sizzle above a bed of smoldering charcoal. The chef picks up a skewer
and waves it around in front of passersby. It is difficult to resist,
especially after a long bus ride.
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| Marciana's does rotisserie chicken very well, soft and juicy with tasty perfectly browned skin. Half a chicken is enough for three, along with other dishes and steamed rice, and complementary bowl of soup, all for under P500. |
Leave room for dessert,
because after dinner, on a stroll along the banks of Burnham Lake in the center
of the park, you encounter vendors peddling taho, ice cream, and fresh green
mango. Although all the boating and biking rentals have closed for the evening,
Burnham Park is still teeming with visitors - groups of students and friends
laughing and joking, families with children taking in the cool breeze in the
grassy space between daisy bushes, lovers sitting on benches in a moonlight
embrace.
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| Jharis loves the cool breeze on Burnham Lake... |
It takes a while to hail
a taxi during post-dinner rush hour. Try the Shell station on
busy Abanao Street across from the City Hall grounds. Be patient.
What your earlier
initial inspection of the Ferionni2 room does not reveal is a shower-heater
with very weak water pressure, the constant scent of chemical deodorizer, and
cable with very poor reception on the channel broadcasting the Suzuki Cup group match between Philippines and Thailand live from Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City, a match you have been looking forward to for months, and the only program
you're willing to spend time watching on television during your one night
in Baguio. Don't be surprised to be woken up at about 3:00 in the morning
by loud voices and laughter in the hallway, coming from either hotel
staff or other guests. Moreover, the wifi signal works only in the lobby. The
staff works hard to maintain cleanliness, but it is still recommended to flip
further through the accommodations binder at the Tourism Assistance Center.
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| Ferionni2's lobby area has a strong wifi signal, but it does not reach the rooms in the lower level... |
Air-conditioning is not a
necessity in Baguio, and don't count on an electric fan in the room either.
Crack open a window to let in some cool mountain air, and the crowing of
roosters that gradually increases in volume with the approaching dawn, a sound
that summons a dreamy melancholic nostalgia for your youth when you spend
nights at your grandparents' house in Palanan, Makati.
Santa Catalina
Spirituality Center
An unexpected bonus to
your stay at Ferionni2 is its proximity to the Santa Catalina Spirituality Center, a picturesque
Dominican retreat complex nestled on the southern side of the hill. Santa
Catalina is an oasis of tranquility on a very busy road. Able to
accommodate groups of up to 300 people, Santa Catalina offers conference rooms,
dining halls, guest rooms and cottages, and a spectacular scenic
overlook. The quaint chapel celebrates Mass every morning at 6:30 - the perfect way to start your day.
Barangay Balsigan
After Mass, stroll back down the hill, turn right on Balsigan Road heading down
towards the barangay of the same name. From roadside, you are treated to a
candid snapshot of daily life as it begins in the morning
amidst breathtaking views of the rolling hills. The mists are just
lifting, clinging tentatively to the trees. Uniformed children
cheerily board tricycles and jeepneys to school. A sari-sari store opens its
door to you. Ask for coffee and the girl offers you a sachet of instant
3-and-1, but no hot water to go with it. Pass it up and double back up the hill
to the 7-Eleven,
where they have a cappuccino machine and freshly brewed coffee. They don't
allow mixing the two like you prefer, but you can get around it by purchasing
one small cup of each. Then, pour them together into a large cup, the
perfect proportions for the rest of your walk along the busy Ben Palispis
Highway back to Ferionni2.
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| The Barangay Balsigan skyline - a sight to behold indeed... |
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| If you want to mix some cappuccino with your regular coffee, you have to purchase a small cup of each and then pour them into a large. That's just the way it is at this 7-Eleven outside Barangay Balsigan... |
Shrine of the Brown
Madonna Cave
One of your pet peeves
about Catholicism in the Philippines is the Church's standard adoption of Jesus
Christ's image with Anglicized physical features, often with blonde hair and
blue eyes.
The early Christian church is resistant to promoting physical depictions of Christ. It isn't until 4th century A.D. after Constantine embraces Christianity that representations of Christ begin to fully emerge in the Greco-Roman art world. In the absence of accurate references in pagan culture, artists of that time naturally depict Christ according to the prevailing notion of what the appearance of a powerful god would be. And does Scripture not say that God created man in His own image? Thus, it is understandable that Christ in these early works is often portrayed as the ideal human specimen, muscular and perfectly fit, beardless with flowing locks, piercing eyes and abs that the strongest Greco-Roman wrestlers would envy.
Over a thousand years later, the Caucasian image of Christ is spread through expansion by European powers competing for colonies. While many missionaries do legitimate Christian work, including fomenting resistance against oppressive regimes, historians see colonial governments project the Anglicized image of Christ to legitimize the power and superiority of the colonizing race and the subjugation of the colonized.
Both Biblical and lay scholars today point to Scriptural evidence which refutes the Greco-Roman version of Christ's physical appearance. They cite Matthew's Gospel account of Judas having to identify Jesus to the arresting Roman authorities as He is not easily distinguishable from His accompanying disciples. Anthropologists describe typical Galilean Semites of the time, Jesus's contemporaries, as olive-skinned with dark brown eyes and hair most likely curly. This seems more consistent with someone of Middle-Eastern descent born into a refugee family of the persecuted working class.
Regardless of the sociology and anthropology, your faith espouses that Christ's physical appearance matters much less than what He did on Earth for all of humanity. If Christians are to truly embrace our faith, then we should know that if God created humans in His image, then we all collectively look like Him - black or white, Asian or Latin, female or male, child or elderly, persecuted or privileged, disabled or strong, gay or straight - we are all God's creation. So when Filipinos engage in traditions that present Christ's image in contradiction to that which the colonizing power imposes, such as the Procession of the Black Nazarene, the most attended annual devotional in Manila, it represents in your eyes an expression of liberation from the European colonialist legacy.
Under this light, the Shrine of the Brown Madonna is particularly
significant. Whatever is the intent of the National Correspondents Club of
Baguio in inaugurating this chapel inside a cave along Asin Road in 1986, just seven
months after the People Power Revolution, this Shrine is a symbol of Filipino
hope and faith that God has created you in His image.
While
jeepneys go out on Asin Road this far from the city center, you can
expect a harder trip back to town as they are often packed to capacity on the
return route. The safest bet is to charter a taxi from the city. The
standard fee is P350 per hour. Plan your trip to three must-see sites
all in the same section of Asin Road - the Shrine of the Brown Madonna Cave, BenCab Museum, and then to the strip of arts and crafts shops on the
way back.
BenCab Museum
To
say that Benedicto Reyes Cabrera is one of the giants of modern Philippine
art is an understatement.
The
most commercially successful Filipino painter, Cabrera's masterpieces have
been exhibited in Europe, Asia, and North America since the 1960's. He has
garnered numerous awards over his lifetime, prolifically producing a body of
work unrivaled in its visionary socio-political content. BenCab has made the
Baguio area his artistic headquarters since 1985. In 2006, the government
bestows upon him the National Artist honor for visual arts, the
highest order for Filipino artists. The BenCab Museum located
on kilometer 6 of Asin Road, just east of the Brown Madonna Cave, is itself a
work of art. Four levels of galleries not only feature exhibits of the
country's most innovative contemporary artists alongside some of Cabrera's
famous pieces, but contain an extensive collection of ancient tribal
artifacts, tools, spiritual deities, furniture, and weapons from the Cordillera region and
beyond. Behind the museum building, organic vegetable gardens overlook a
creek cascading through the valley, emptying eventually into the Ifugao River.
A koi pond with a Filipino-style pagoda and traditional Ifugao abode further
down highlight the grounds. In its rare representation
of precolonial civilizations of the Philippines, the BenCab Museum
may be one of the most important galleries in the world. Like other museums you
have experienced in your travels, such as the Met in New
York, the Smithsonian in Washington DC, the Menil Collection in
Houston, the Terracotta Army in Xian, the Great Wall and Ming Tombs outside
Beijing, the Colosseum in Rome, the ruins of Pompeii, and more, the BenCab
Museum is worthy of multiple regular visits, as a single day is nowhere near
sufficient to fully appreciate all it features.
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| Bags are not permitted inside the museum. You have to leave them at the desk. Photography is allowed only without a flash... |
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| Sabel in Hiding, 2009 |
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| 32 Variations of Sabel, 2016 |
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| Cafe Sabel, the museum's inhouse juice and coffee bar, has the best strawberry smoothies you have ever had. You can taste the freshness of ingredients grown and harvested just meters away. They don't give out to-go containers, so be prepared to drink the whole thing before you go... |
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| Cafe Sabel's strawberry smoothie meets with Jharis's approval... |
Born 1863 in Ontario,
Canada, Whitmarsh grows up in Wales until the age of 14 when he trains as a
sailor, traveling the world on merchant ships and ending up in Australia seven
years later where he works as a barber along with an assortment of other odd
jobs, like pearl diving and mining. In 1887, he emigrates to New York, his path
eventually leading him to the pharmaceutical trade in Boston. Whitmarsh's
adventures feed his literary career. His books have received renewed interest
lately. Autobiographical accounts such as The world's rough hand; toil and adventure at the antipodes, (New York, The Century co., 1898)
and The young pearl divers. A story of Australian adventure by land and sea (Boston, J. Knight Co., 1896) have resurfaced in the inventories
of 21st century publishers preserving important historical works. Whitmarsh
lands in the Philippines in 1899 as a correspondent for The Outlook,
one of the top American news weeklies of the day. The following year, he is
appointed the first American governor general of Benguet province and makes his
home in the nascent Baguio City. Investigated for allegations that he is using
his position for personal gain in acquiring land and mining rights from the
indigenous people, Whitmarsh abruptly ends his governorship after a year. His stay
in the Philippines, however, does not end, and for the next three decades he goes
on to make a fortune and a significant contribution to the growth and
development of Baguio until his death in Manila in 1935. Whitmarsh must
recognize the monetary potential of the surrounding pines, as his Benguet Commercial Company applies for and is granted a license to cut 50,000 cubic
feet of it in 1903 to produce lumber in his sawmills. The Whitmarsh business
empire also includes the luxurious Baguio Hotel and the outdoor Garden
Theater, the first cinema in the city which he opens in 1912.
On December 8, 1941, ten
hours after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, bombing of the Philippines begins. Baguio City, with its large American and Philippine
military bases, is a target for Japanese bombers. The city falls along with other parts of the country and is
occupied by Japanese forces for three years. General Tomoyuki Yamashita, the top commander of the
Imperial Japanese Army in Southeast Asia, establishes his headquarters in
Baguio. By April 1945 when the Allied campaign to liberate the archipelago
advances to the Cordilleras, Japanese presence in the city has exceeded 50,000
soldiers. The ensuing carpet-bombing by American forces levels this idyllic
mountain town. By the time Yamashita announces the Japanese surrender four
months later, putting an end to the war, Baguio is the second-most devastated
Philippine city of World War II. Nicknamed the Tiger of Malaya for leading the
Japanese conquest of a large swath of Southeast Asia, Yamashita is tried for
war crimes in his role in the Rape of Manila, one of the most heinous
events in modern world history. He is hanged the following year in Los Baños Internment Camp.
Four decades later, a
group of artists, scholars, and anthropologists whose vision is inspired by indigenous Cordillera culture expressed through cuisine, arts, and architecture establish a
restaurant in the ruins of H. Phelps Whitmarsh's former residence, a home once
known for its elaborate English gardens. In 1988, Cafe by the Ruins rises from
the destruction of war. Using indigenous techniques and motifs, cogon roofing
and native bamboo are integrated with the remaining original concrete partial
walls, its shrapnel holes serve as historical markers of war's brutality. The
menu consists of traditional dishes made with fresh ingredients produced on
local farms, and the grounds hosts poetry readings, concerts, and exhibits by
the most noted Filipino artists. Under the direction of such luminaries as Ben
Cabrera and the late Roberto Villanueva, Cafe by the Ruins quickly establishes itself as
a premiere hub for the arts in Baguio and beyond, for the next nearly 30 years.
On the way from BenCab
Museum to the landmark cafe, your taxi driver recounts a theory circulating
among locals as to what causes the fire that razes this legendary venue in
April of last year. It is said that welding sparks from construction next door
set the restaurant's traditional thatched roof ablaze. The lunchtime clientele
and staff are quickly evacuated, but the entire site is burned to the ground,
breaking the hearts of many who have grown up with precious memories in this
storied spot. Speculation spreads that Cafe by the Ruins is lost forever, that the owners would never be
able to revive it. Thirty years from when it sprouts out of the ruins, the
indefatigable resto rises from the ashes and reopens in August 2018 amidst much
fanfare with a brand new chic post-modern makeover. The new structure is
decidedly solid and updated with the most current fire codes. The second-floor
balcony looking out towards City Hall maintains an open-air relaxed
ambience. The service is attentive, excellent, and friendly. The waitstaff even
allow you to charge your phone in one of the wall-sockets. Cafe by the Ruins is back.
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| The menu includes traditional Filipino cuisine as well as global fusion dishes... |
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| Meticulously presented, the Goat Cheese Salad is an exquisite appetizer... |
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| The Beef Ribs Sinigang can be a little on the tangier side by your palate, but every ingredient is so fresh, you can taste the garden in the broth... |
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| Native rice, steamed the way the locals do it, is standard fare... |
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| The open-air balcony is cool and relaxing... |
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| Chill out in the courtyard dap-ay, the traditional Ifugao village gathering place... |
Our Lady of Lourdes
Church
The Philippine
archipelago sits on a geographic chain seismologists refer to as the Ring of Fire, a string of intercontinental
regions of high tectonic activity linked by plates in constant motion beneath
the planet's crust. Spanning the Pacific rim, 90% of the world's earthquakes
strike along the Ring of Fire, where 75% of volcanoes also lie.
One of the most
devastating disasters to strike the Philippines in recent memory is the 1990 earthquake whose epicenter is the town
of Rizal, Nueva Ecija, in central Luzon directly north of Manila and just a
hundred miles southeast of Baguio City. It strikes in the middle of the
afternoon on a work day. Baguio takes the brunt of the destruction. Many
edifices collapse, including luxury hotels and apartment buildings. Stories of
people trapped for days under the rubble accompany horrifying images on the
news, with ensuing landslides rendering impassable the few mountain roads
leading into the city. Measuring 7.8 on the Richter Scale, the tremors are felt as
far south as the capital and northward all the way through the Cordillera
region, claiming over 2,000 lives. The news you see from the country of your
birth while living as a musician in Houston, Texas inspires you to organize a
benefit concert to raise badly needed funds for relief efforts, featuring a
lineup of some of the coolest bands in town - Compañeras, Sons of dada, Beat Temple, and Fleshmop, along with your own The Presidents at the fabled Houston
venue Fitzgerald's.
Among the many buildings
heavily damaged by the 1990 earthquake is the Church of Our
Lady of Lourdes on Kisad Road directly across from Burnham
Park. Upon the inauguration of the Commonwealth government in 1935, the
Philippine president is given access to facilities previously reserved for ranking
American officials. Baguio becomes known as a retreat city for Manuel L. Quezon, the first President the Philippine Commonwealth. In 1939, First Lady Aurora Quezon commissions a replica of the Lourdes Grotto to be built on their
Baguio property after she receives healing from the original on a visit to
France. She starts a novena every February and September, which attracts
devotees, who later credit their miraculous protection from Japanese bombing
and atrocities to the Lourdes Grotto. Word spreads, and for decades thereafter
the numbers grow flocking to Kisad Road. In 1965, inspired by the devotion he
witnesses, local parish priest Father Jean Marie Tchang leads efforts to
build a church around the grotto.
It takes 25 years for
Our Lady of Lourdes Church to fully recover from the earthquake. Its
reconstruction completed in 2015 is funded by some generous parishioners and
donors. Nowadays, the new Sanctuary is a very popular wedding venue. The
compound also houses a branch of Our Farmers' Haven Federation, a
non-governmental organization of farmworkers advocating for organic
agricultural production. Even though the Cordilleras region is most famous for
its iconic rice terraces, Benguet is actually a leading producer of vegetables
for the country. The province has seen a rise in soil degradation, health
problems among farmworkers, and inequity since the introduction of chemical
fertilizers and pesticides into the agricultural economy decades ago. The
Baguio Diocese sees their campaign for organic agriculture as an integral part
of their social justice advocacy and leadership. They cite Genesis 2:15 as the spiritual foundation for the movement, where God entrusts
the Garden of Eden to humans.
The Church of Our Lady
of Lourdes is just an eight-minute leisurely stroll from Cafe by the Ruins, the
perfect exercise after a big healthy lunch. Turn left out the gate, and then
left again on Kisad Road. Approach the intersections at Carino and Shanum
Streets cautiously.
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| Sculpted by Meliton Caja, the original Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto commissioned by Aurora Quezon has survived a brutal world war and a powerful earthquake... |
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| The people of Baguio can relate to the suffering and persecution of brown-skinned Christ at the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes... |
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| The community comes together for a fund-raiser at Fitzgerald's and raises thousands of dollars for relief efforts for the victims of the 1990 earthquake... |
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| Circa 1990. Photo by a friend of the band... |
Burnham Lake
Daniel
Burnham is already a legend when the United States government
sends him to the Philippines to design improvements in the capital of
their newly acquired colony in Southeast Asia and plan a mountain resort town
to its north.
Burnham's meteoric rise
to prominence begins in the 1870's, as architecture is just becoming a
profession. The aftermath of the 1871 Chicago fire presents the perfect setting
for Burnham to develop and apply a creative genius the world has yet to
encounter. Because of his pioneering work, Burnham is credited with practically
inventing the skyscraper, destined to be the signature image of the urbanized world.
Many landmark buildings bearing his name are still fully functional after over
a century of existence, such as the Flatiron
Building in Manhattan and Chicago's Field Museum.
It is in city planning, however, that historians say Burnham has the most
visionary influence. Commissioned to design Washington DC's Capitol area, San Francisco, Chicago, and other major metropolises, his aim is to bring order and
aesthetic beauty to cities that have uncontrollably grown since the dawn
of the industrial age. To accommodate mounting business needs and at the same
time create an environment enjoyable to the average resident, Burnham's urban
plans include both massive office buildings reaching heights never seen before
and an expansive park system. That the United States would send their foremost
urban planner and most influential architect to design Baguio City demonstrates
the importance of this mountain town to the colonial bureaucrats needing a
place to escape Manila's stifling heat. Like those immense structures in
New York and Chicago, Burnham's name also withstands the test of time in the
timeless environs of Baguio. But make no mistake - Baguio may be designed by an
American, but it is built with the hands, the muscle, the sweat, the creativity, and the
resources of Filipinos, including every road carved into a mountain, every
bridge across a canyon, every mansion, church, government building, and the
city's centerpiece - the park with its man-made pond. Remember this the next
time you hear someone say, "Baguio was built by the Americans."
WRONG. Baguio is established and planned by
Americans. But Baguio is built by Filipinos.
Burnham Park's
establishment in 1925 is credited to Leonard Wood, the governor general of the
Philippines from 1921 to 1927. Many Baguio streets are still named after Wood,
despite the atrocities over which he presides in his previous position as
governor of Moro province in Mindanao, namely the 1906 Bud Dajo Massacre by American
forces of almost 1000 Tausug villagers, a community of refugees camping out in an extinct volcanic crater seeking shelter from the anti-Muslim campaign, leaving
just six survivors.
Work on the lake is
begun as early as 1914. Daniel Burnham would probably like this part of Baguio, not
necessarily because it is named after him, but this central patch of green
space he envisions over a century ago is heavily utilized by locals and
tourists as a free public space for recreation and relaxation. With rose gardens, an orchidarium, a fountain, plenty of benches, a soothing body of
water, refreshments readily available, and a nice cool breeze, the park indeed
raises the quality of life in a rapidly growing city. In 1990, Burnham Park
adds another use in its dossier - a refugee shelter area during the period
immediately after the earthquake.
At Burnham Lake in the
middle of the park, you can rent a row boat, or, if you have three or fewer
people in your party, a pedal boat, which is a good exercise people should be
encouraged to do anyway. Don't expect much from boating on Burnham Lake; it is
anti-climactic at best. It's not much of a lake at all. "Pool" would
be a more apt title for it. There is nowhere to go except in circles, and the
only sights to see beyond the flowerbeds and trees are the
tops of buildings surrounding the park, including city hall, numerous hotels, and SM City shopping mall. The true fun is in the laughter and fellowship you have with friends and
family in the boat, and that is what Burnham Lake is truly all about.
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| Jharis enjoys the pedaling... |
Melvin Jones Football
Grounds
Like you, Daniel Burnham
would be infuriated by recent proposals from the business sector to turn parts
of the Melvin Jones Football Grounds into a parking garage.
As a nationally
certified youth soccer coach, you have dedicated much of your teaching career
in the United States to leading the design and implementation of a
middle-school soccer program as an extra-curricular after-school incentive
intervention against gangs, drugs, crime, and poverty in an economically
disadvantaged district. You have witnessed the transformative impact a
competitive youth soccer program has on a community in need. Since your regular
return to the land of your birth over a decade ago, you have been actively
supporting the growth of such programs targeting indigent communities in the
Philippines, seeking out volunteer coaches to work with like yourself who have
dedicated their passion to mentoring youths through the beautiful game. In the
course of your work, you have come to recognize the scarcity of pitches; most
of the playing fields you have observed in the country are accessible only to
the privileged class inside the barbed-wire fences of lucrative private
schools. The Melvin Jones Football Grounds is one of very few soccer fields
accessible in the public domain.
Boys Town is an institution established in 1947 to care for underprivileged, homeless, abandoned, orphaned, or abused children through the age of 17. Since its founding, Boys Town has built a reputation as one of the most successful havens for underprivileged youths, and includes in its list of alumni the late Congressman Gerry Espina Sr., filmmaker Francis "Jun" Posadas, and action-movie starDante Varona. In 2005, the late former FIFA Referee Bartolome Tolentino and his wife Anna begins a soccer program for the kids at Boys Town, volunteering to train and mentor youths, building character and self-esteem, guiding them towards academic achievement and educational aspiration. Several of their wards go on to receive football scholarships at prestigious universities in the Manila area. Coach Anna takes up the mantle of the program after Coach Bart suffers a debilitating stroke, working hard with heroic dedication to fulfill the vision of Bart FC.
Muntinlupa United Football Club is a non-governmental organization established in 2005 targeting youths of the community based around the national penitentiary New Bilibid Prison, Muntinlupa, a southern boro of Metro Manila. The vision of founder and Head Coach Leah Madrid, a career Registered Nurse, is to mentor the children of inmates and prison employees. But since its inception, the MUFC family has grown to include kids from all walks of life, coming together as a community to train on the Department of Corrections football field located just outside the prison grounds.
FC Leveriza is a grass-roots team of economically disadvantaged youths from the squatter settlements around the Paraiso ng Batang Maynila public playground across from the Manila Zoo, or "pleg" as the kids refer to it. Coach Julius and Coach Edong have worked over the years to mentor the kids away from drugs and illicit behavior, developing a footballing culture in the community to address social needs. Through their hard work and unbridled dedication, many of the youths achieve beyond their dreams, succeeding in school and attaining higher education through college scholarships.
In 2011, in your search for a community in need of a coach, you encounter these three barangay-based clubs, and are granted the honor of coaching an all-star selection to compete at an invitational tourrnament in Baguio. You and a delegation of 20 other people, including players, coaches, and managers, squeeze into a chartered jeepney operated by a local friend designed for 16 passengers. The team's bags are piled up in the center aisle. The journey into the mountains takes all night, arriving the next morning two hours from kickoff of your first match. MBL United is the only team to represent the capital at the Melvin Jones Football Grounds for the 1st Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan Football Cup, one of the first events he commissions after reelection to his second stint in the office.
MBL United rampages into
the final match, taking second place in a torrential downpour. Not a bad result at all considering the
players have no rest from a full night on the road, and no breakfast. (Coach
Leah tells you one of the most heart-breaking things you ever hear as a youth
soccer coach: "Sanay na maglaro ang mga yan na walang laman ang
tiyan." ["These boys are accustomed to playing on an empty
stomach."])
You can feel the
hallowed tenor of the grounds as you stroll across towards the Melvin Jones Grandstand, part of a series of civic projects built in the 1960's by the Baguio City Lions Club. Teams of youths engage in a variety of sports - baseball, football,
track and field, dance. Named after the internationally-awarded founder of Lions Club International, even though there seems to be no evidence that he
ever sets foot in the Philippines nor sets foot on a soccer ball, the Melvin
Jones Football Grounds is the only flat space of its size in Baguio that can accommodate multiple groups of athletes training simultaneously. It is
impossible to quantify in pesos the value of this public park to the community,
but clearly there are people out there who cannot see value beyond the peso
sign.
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| In the 1st Mayor Mauricio Domogan Football Cup, local teams of indigenous youths compete in their traditional bahag garb... |
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| MBL United (blue) face a club from Laoag in the championship match. MBL falls in penalties... |
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| Among the various sports practiced at the Melvin Jones Football Grounds is baseball... |
Our Lady of Atonement
Cathedral
A visit to Baguio City
is not complete without stopping at Our Lady of Atonement Cathedral. From the Melvin Jones
Grandstand turn right on Harrison Road. Cross to go up T. Claudio Street for
two blocks. Turn left on F. Calderon Street, and then right on Session Road,
one of the main arteries around the city. Keep your eye out on the left side,
otherwise you might miss the sign tucked subtly between business buildings
marking the bottom of the steps up to the cathedral compound.
Christianity is brought
to Baguio in 1907 by Belgian missionaries, relatively late in Philippine terms.
Construction of the current cathedral begins in 1920. It takes 16 years to be
completed. The cathedral's status as a miraculous church is cemented when it
shelters civilians and survives American carpet-bombing as the Allies retake
Baguio during the climactic end of World War II.
The famous stairs on the
Session Road side has 105 steps requiring some light strenuous effort. You can
stop as often as needed to read the reflections in the Stations of the Cross,
making this entrance an excellent cardiovascular and spiritual workout. If you
cannot or prefer not to climb so many steps, keep going straight on Session
Road and turn left on Fr. Carlu Street. This approach treats you to a
spectacular front angle of the neo-Gothic facade.
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| On your way up the steps, stop and view this piece by Frank Georg... |
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| Currently baby blue, the Baguio Cathedral is known to be pink sometimes... |
Baguio Post Office
The art of post
card-writing is not dead - not if you can help it.
The Philippine
postal system is in its third century of operation. The first
post office in the country is established in Manila in 1767. The Philippines
becomes an official Spanish postal district 12 years later. Throughout the
Spanish period, mail is transported to Europe from the Philippines on the
galleon trade via Mexico. The Philippines soon develops into a continental hub
for postal services. Upon the ejection of the Spanish, first Philippine
President Emilio Aguinaldo orders the establishment of the domestic mail
system. The postal headquarters in Manila completed in 1926 under American rule
and then restored after World War II remains a landmark building today. In
2000, computerized sorting capability is introduced. Despite the long history
and technological advances, it is a mystery to you why post cards you send to
the United States takes weeks, sometimes months, to arrive from the
Philippines.
You find that post
offices in Manila and other Philippine cities are relatively hard to come by and get to. Not so
in Baguio, where the main post office sits atop a hill just a
short walk from the heart of town. From the cathedral's front gate, cross Fr.
Carlu Street, turn right and make an immediate left on to Post Office Loop.
Mini Park Garden
Across from the Central
Post Office, you find a perfect perch to relax and observe a snapshot of daily
life.
"The city of
parks" would be another suitable nickname for Baguio. True to Daniel
Burnham's vision of a well-planned urban area, Baguio boasts numerous public
parks and gardens scattered around town. Mini Park
Garden between Post Office Loop and Session Road contains no
tourist traps; it is an ideal spot to literally just sit and rest for a while.
The crosswalk to the other side of Session Road is one of the busiest in the
city. From your bench, observe the heavy pedestrian traffic.
The stairs from the
crosswalk to Mini Park Garden is adorned with a mural painted by GINTO Baguio,
an organization of volunteers from the 2004 and 2005 graduating classes of
Baguio City National High School's Special Program in the Arts. The members of GINTO Baguio, which
stands for Guild of Integrated Talents of Baguio, are former
scholars in various artistic fields wanting to give back to the community after
high school. Since their inception in 2015, GINTO Baguio has been engaging in a
wide range of community service projects. Their Mini Park Garden mural unveiled
in March 2017 aims to honor aspects of indigenous Cordilleran heritage - art,
dance, music, textiles, farming, and hunting.
Featured in the mural is
a portrait of Apo Whang-Od. Born in 1917, Whang-Od is the
oldest of an endangered lineage of traditional Kalinga tattoo artists using an ancient inking technique called batok, passed down from
generation to generation over millennia. She is a living legend who has worked
tirelessly to maintain and preserve this rare art form unique to the Cordillera
mountains. While Whang-Od has tutored younger mambabatok to take up the mantle,
people from all over the world trek deep into the Kalinga domain solely for the honor of being tattooed by her.
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Apo Whang-Od, living legend...
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| Jharis finds Mini Park Garden a great spot to rest and observe life in Baguio City... |
This post in Mini Park Garden on Post Office Loop in Baguio (above) is almost exactly like the one in Peace Garden on the St. Edward's University campus in Austin (below)...
Departure
The Philippine inter-province bus schedule is notoriously
unpredictable. There are two Victory Liner terminals in Baguio. The one in
the old bus depot on Gov.
Pack Road is for non-air-conditioned lines. The new air-conditioned station is
on Marcoville Street, on property formerly rented by the National Food
Authority from the Philippine National
Railways.
Train transportation is first
built in the Philippines under Spanish rule. The Manila
Railroad Company based in London, England completes the Manila-Dagupan line in 1892 and begins
to transport passengers and goods between the Tutuban central terminal in
the capital and the Pangasinan coast
to the north. Under the American administration, a southward segment to Legazpi City, Albay is added. A
rail line is begun to connect Baguio with Manila and other lowland areas in
order to make the Benguet mines more accessible. Land is procured for stations
and tunnels are dug. However, construction is interrupted in 1914 by the
outbreak of World War I as European suppliers default on deliveries.
Construction never resumes. Over half of the rail system is destroyed in Word
War II, and receives limited rehabilitation after the war. Upon independence
from the United States, the Philippine government inherits the railways and all
of its assets, including the Baguio properties.
Today, a couple of regional
segments of the original lines still function under PNR. In 2014, talk
circulates among politicians and businesspeople about reviving the 100-year-old
Baguio rail project, citing the many potential economic benefits to both
tourism and agriculture, as the Manila market would be made more accessible to
vegetable producers from the central mountains. Quite suddenly in late 2015,
these railway dreams are shattered when PNR inexplicably decides to sell off
its properties in Baguio, considered prime real estate, many long occupied by
residents. Some lots are designated for social housing projects, while others
are purchased by private corporations.
The National Food Authority is the
government agency in charge of the country's food security and stability. Among
its many responsibilities, the NFA stockpiles rice supplies for calamities in a
series of regional warehouses strategically distributed around the country. In
early 2016, the NFA's
Baguio office receives from PNR and Victory Liner two separate notices
to immediately vacate the lot they have been renting from PNR for their
warehouse, without prior notice of its sale to Victory Liner. The warehouse,
able to store up to 30,000 sacks of rice, is closed down, and the NFA's Baguio
operation is reduced to a single facility
on Loakan Road.
The terminal that Victory Liner
erects on their newly acquired lot is the most modern bus depot you have
encountered yet in the Philippines. It is well-maintained, with robust security
at the entrance, plenty of seating for waiting passengers, a food court on the
second floor, refreshment kiosks, and a free phone-charging station. The wifi
signal from a parked bus is even strong enough to reach parts of the lobby.
Check for the password on the sign posted above the bus windshield. It is
advisable to get to the terminal with plenty of time to spare. From Mini Garden
Park, it's about 16 minutes by taxi, only because of heavy traffic.
Surprisingly, the 6:00 pm Victory Liner bus to Pasay departs on time.
Double-check to be sure which bus to get on. Don't rely on any sort of boarding
time announcement over the public address system like at airports.
Just before the rocking of the
bus around the tight highway curves combines with your fatigue to lull you
asleep, catch through the window your final views of this complex and mystical
place. In your 26 hours here, you know you have only barely nicked the surface
of this city in the rising mist. You will return, of course, in a future
already laid out for you.
On a clear night, there is
hardly a discernible horizon, if at all. The flickering lights of homes against
the mountainsides float yet again into a starlit sky. This is Baguio in the
Cordilleras singing to you a visual lullaby.
Next: MAGICAL MINDORO
"Life is not a journey, but a pilgrimage..."
- Kokoy Severino has been in a constant state of travel since he was four years old.
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