Only good citizenship can save Baguio from decay

Inquirer Northern Luzon
Only good citizenship can save Baguio from decay

By Maurice Malanes
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:01:00 06/18/2008

BAGUIO CITY – Practically the whole of Baguio City used to be his playground. He and other teenage children would climb the thickly forested Mount Sto. Tomas, roam the pine and mossy forests of what is now Quezon Hill, and trek to the hot springs of Asin in nearby Tuba town.

They wouldn’t even bother to bring packed lunch with them because they could dig for singkamas ti bakes (wild turnips), pick berries and other wild fruits, and drink from springs or pitcher plants.

“Ten or so singkamas ti bakes (literally, monkey’s turnips) for each of us were enough for our lunch to keep us full for the rest of the day in the great outdoors,” recalls 69-year-old Carlito Cenzon.

Now the Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Baguio, Cenzon is among true-blue “Baguio boys,” who are not only nostalgic about the place that made their childhood summers whole and happy in the 1950s.

He is among a few pioneers who, after having noted how Baguio has been deteriorating over the years, now seek to rescue it from further decay. How?

Getting involved

“By being citizens,” Cenzon says. “This means participating, getting involved, not being indifferent, chipping in your talents for the good of the community, paying taxes, following rules and regulations. And if you’re in the government, making your office a public trust.”

He laments the lack of good citizenship, which, he says, can be seen in a pervasive “extractive mentality” in which many come to extract whatever they get out of Baguio, even if this means illegally building a house in a vital watershed, for example.

Cenzon agrees such mentality of extraction may have originated from an extractive industry from which Baguio was born – mining.

Baguio as an urban center emerged as a result of the boom in mining in the neighboring gold-rich towns of Benguet, an industry that American colonial soldiers-turned-gold-prospectors began on a massive scale in the early 1900s.

With its mountain climate and the promise of economic opportunities, more and more migrants have poured into Baguio in recent years. Many came and squatted on public lands, taking advantage of a city government with no updated and strict land use and zoning policies.

Cenzon cites, among other things, what is now known as Quirino Hill. During his childhood, the place used to be covered with a pine forest and called Carabao Mountain. With a slope of above 18 degrees, the hill is now one of the densely populated areas.

The bishop and the environment advocacy group, Baguio Regreening Movement, in which he is one of the officers, have since been on a mission to save the watersheds.

They have not only led concerned citizens and students in planting trees but also recommended the demolition of squatters’ houses in Busol, a vital watershed.

Despite the maze of legal bureaucratic procedures required before demolishing shanties, “our battle to save whatever is left of our watersheds continues,” he says. “The battle is ongoing even if squatters have remained despite hundreds of court orders issued against them.

According to Cenzon, many people – big and small – have been “raping Baguio for a long time,” with each one trying to extract what he can get from the city at all costs.

One of the outfits to which concerned citizens have vented their ire on is a subsidiary of a shopping mall chain. For months, officials and residents were kept in the dark regarding company plans to build another structure in a hectare of pine woodlot near the Baguio Convention Center.

Recently, an official of the firm told the city council about its plan to build condominium buildings on that lot. Because of public pressure from concerned citizens like Cenzon, most members of the council have opposed it.

Campaign

“I would lead a campaign to boycott this mall if this structure is built despite concerned citizens’ protest,” says Cenzon.

He says an official of the shopping mall had told him the company would look for an alternative site.

But apart from big-time threats, even ordinary residents are helping ruin Baguio, says the bishop. He cites those who use sidewalks for auto repair and vulcanizing shops, sari-sari (variety) stores and other business stalls, and ambulant vendors.

As one of those who conceptualized the recent “Walk Baguio Walk” drive, in which government employees and residents are encouraged to walk rather than drive to work, Cenzon admits that walking would be quite difficult with the lack of sidewalks.

When told that Marikina City was able to clear its sidewalks and succeeded in reclaiming these for the public, Cenzon says replicating that experience requires strong political will.

Good governance, strong political will and people exercising their role as citizens could rescue Baguio from further decay, he says. “But what all these require is love,” he says. “You must love Baguio first so you can have the passion and the heart to serve the interest of the community rather than your interest.”

Responsible citizenship, he says, emanates from love of one’s community or country.