Mt. Piling in Banguitan, Besao, Mt. Province

Mt. Piling is a mountain located in barangay Banguitan in Besao, Mountain Province. It's a mountain covered in pine forests. 

Is Baguio City a Smart City?

Last night, a parked car near city hall and also near a police station was broken into. The thief (or thieves) broke a window and stole valuables inside the car. Based on the account of the victims, they reported the incident to the police but there's very little that could be done. Why? Because the CCTV cameras in the area aren't working. 

Of course, the incident made it to social media. And the topic of Baguio City being a "𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆" once again came up. I got curious. What exactly is a smart city? And how did being a smart city become associated with Baguio? 

Several years ago, the city under the leadership of Mayor Benjamin Magalong embarked on an ambitious goal to transform Baguio into a progressive smart city by 2027. 

In an article at the 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗠𝗶𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿 dated October 2023, Magalong was quoted saying this: "Baguio City’s future is bright and promising, driven by a strong sense of community and forward-thinking governance. Our vision is to transform Baguio into a green, liveable, sustainable, and smart city that can withstand the challenges confronting the future of cities today and seize the digital opportunities that lie ahead to improve the urban quality of life."

That's a very lofty goal but one that is definitely achievable with the right leaders, the right partners, and political will. The ambitious timetable is another matter. 2027 is now just a year away. 

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆?

A smart city is a city that takes advantage of digital technologies in building its networks, services, and infrastructure. This leads to a more efficient delivery of city services to residents, businesses, and visitors. 

According to the European Commission, the following are the requirements for a city to be considered a "smart city":

1. Smart urban transport networks;

2. Improved water supply and waste disposal facilities;

3. More efficient ways to light and heat buildings;

4. More interactive and proactive city administration;

5. Safer public spaces.

With these in mind, would you say that Baguio City is on track of becoming a smart city?

To be fair, there are players in the city administration who have been proactive in pursuing smart city policies and programs. Like the trio of young newcomers at the city council (Dicang, Salvosa, Weygan) who have been pushing tech-related policies like digitization, utilization of artificial intelligence (AI), digital transparency, etc. 

#baguio #baguiocity #smartcity #socialmedia #goalsetting

Illegal Recruitment in Benguet

This is the top story in this Sunday's edition of the Baguio Herald Express. According to the news article, of the 150 people allegedly recruited illegally by a certain individual here in the Cordillera region, most of them are from Benguet. 

The article identified the recruiter as a person named Sheena Mae Canlas. Canlas and her agents allegedly duped nearly 500 individuals from different parts of the country. 150 of these are Cordillerans, mostly from Benguet.

The recruiter and her agents offered jobs in Japan and Switzerland with monthly salaries of 80,000 and 160,000 respectively. In exchange for their services, the recruiters asked for fees from the applicants. These fees range from 150,000 to 200,000 per applicant.

#ofw #ofws #benguet #cordillera #socialmedia

Are Tourists to Blame for Baguio City's Traffic Problems?

Whenever traffic becomes unbearable in Baguio City, the blame-game begins. And tourists are always the usual suspects. They are easy targets for residents and a convenient excuse for those in power.

But should tourists shoulder the blame for Baguio's traffic woes? Do they deserve the bashing and the finger-pointing?

It's important that we look into what the data says about the vehicles coming and going on Baguio's streets. Here are the numbers: 

1. According to the city, Baguio's existing roads can only accommodate 10,000 to a maximum of 15,000 vehicles at any given time.

2. According to a survey in 2024 by Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., as many as 53,000 to 60,000  Baguio vehicles are on city streets at any given time. Add to this about 25,000 vehicles by tourists. That's a total of about 85,000 vehicles on city streets that can only accommodate a maximum of 15,000 vehicles. 

Looking at these numbers, would you still say that tourists are to blame for Baguio's traffic problems? 

I was listening to a podcast the other day. The guest for that episode is an architect based in Japan. He's originally from Baguio City  and came home for a few days on the second week of December. He and the podcast host talked a little bit about the traffic problems of Baguio City. 

The guest said something that I believe is very true. Here's what he said: "𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗼 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗻𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝗴-𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗴𝗮 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮 𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗮. 𝗗𝗮𝗺𝗶 𝗻𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗻𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗴-𝗮𝗸𝗶𝘁. 𝗔𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗮, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝘅 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀. 𝗔𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗼 𝗻𝗴𝗮𝘆𝗼𝗻, 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝘆𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗹 𝗻𝗮 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆-𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗼 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗲 𝗽𝗮 𝗿𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝗴-𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗮." 

There are kernels of truth to what he said. Things that are worth thinking about this lazy Sunday afternoon. Maybe the city should dial back its obsession with attracting more and more tourists. Preno konti. 

#baguio #baguiocity #baguiotraffic #traffic #socialmedia

Baguio City: From a Few Villages to a Concrete Jungle

That concrete and metal jungle in the distance is Baguio City. More than 400,000 people currently call it home. About 150 or so years ago, it was home to Ibaloys who lived in small villages scattered around the area.

The Spaniards were the first foreigners to realize the beauty of the region and its viability as a place for recreation and recuperation. They planned on constructing a sanitarium in Baguio in the late 1800s. Their plan got squashed when the Spanish-American War erupted. 

The victorious Americans picked up on the idea of establishing a hill station in Baguio. The American architect Daniel Burnham was tasked to design Baguio as a garden city for 30,000 people. 

It's 2025 and within the next several years, the city's population will break through the half-million mark. 

#baguio #baguiocity #history #civilization

The Evolving Trails of Mt. Ugo in Itogon, Benguet

This is Mt. Ugo in Tinongdan, Itogon, Benguet. It was discovered and established as a hiking destination after the tragic crash of a plane near its summit in 1987. All 50 people on board the plane perished from the crash.

Rescuers saw the beauty of the mountain. Word got out among the mountaineering community and people started hiking to the place. 

In the past 5 years or so, the trails of Mt. Ugo have changed. It used to be one of the longest hikes in the Cordillera region. Hikers would start their hike from Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya and exit in Tinongdan, Itogon. So ascending and descending Mt. Ugo used to take two days.

Today, the hiking time has been cut short to a few hours because of the construction of roads both on the Nueva Vizcaya and Benguet sides of the mountain. 

From Nueva Vizcaya, you can ride all the way to Domolpos and hike to the summit from there. If you're taking the Tinongdan route, you can ride all the way to Lusod then start the hike from there. 

#hiking #mountaineering #outdoors

Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong Accuses Critics Of the SM-Led Development of the Public Market of Circulating Lies

In a recent interview, Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong said something about "𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗶𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱" with regards to the proposed redevelopment of the public market through a public-private partnership with SM.

Here were his words: "𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩, 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥." 

Magalong is obviously referring to the concerned individuals, groups, and organizations who have consistently criticized the proposed project and highlighted its negative ramifications to the city if it pushes through. 

Magalong basically referred to them as circulators of lies. In short, he called them liars. 

This is one of the reasons why a lot of people are frustrated and annoyed with Magalong's treatment of the issue. He seems to have already made up his mind that the PPP with SM is the way to go. It's the SM way or the highway. This is crystal clear when you listen to his answers whenever he's asked about the issue.

The thousands of people who protested in the streets and signed petitions are just noise in the eyes of Magalong. To him, they are liars. To him, they are peddlers of lies and false claims. 

Was Magalong ever genuinely interested in listening to the sentiments and arguments of those against the partnership with SM? He wasn't present in the recent public consultations about the issue. People were always looking for him in these consultations. They expected him to be there so he can participate in answering their questions and concerns. After all, he's the father of the city. He didn't attend the recent public consultations. 

If he was present in these consultations, he would've had the chance to tell the critics in their face that they are liars. He would've had the chance to show the facts and evidence that will expose their lies. But he didn't show up. Instead, he calls them liars when they're not around to defend themselves against his accusations.