It’s the City of Pines, the City of Flowers. It has a parade and a park dedicated to flowers, both called Panagbenga.
But this must be the wrong time of the year to look for flowers in Baguio City. Or at least the flowers that I remember from the days when I visited the country’s summer capital at least once a year.
Back then the entire city was blanketed with flowers, from parks to public buildings to private homes surrounded by gardens, usually terraced plots along sloping ground. Bleeding heart vines and other creepers trailed over roofs and trellises.
I always associated Baguio with dahlias of all sizes and colors, gladiola, roses, hydrangea, azaleas and giant sunflowers – all the flowers that have difficulty blooming in the hot lowlands. There was nowhere in the country like Baguio when the flowers were in full bloom.
The flowers filled the city with a riot of scents, serving as natural air fresheners together with the bracing aroma of pine. At night dama de noche, with its bewitching scent sometimes overwhelmingly sweet it was cloying, truly ruled the night.
I always knew when I was approaching the city from the smell of pine. During summer wild sunflowers greeted you along Kennon Road.
At the start of the toll road in Benguet, pink-cheeked, chinky-eyed tribal girls approached vehicles, offering souvenir trinkets.
At the toll road entrance there were no pink-cheeked girls, and I guess it’s not wild sunflower season. As the city neared, Kennon Road also smelled more and more like EDSA.
For those who remember a slower time in Baguio City, the biggest disappointment has to be the disappearance of the pine trees along the slopes, and their replacement with houses whose residents obviously do not have the luxury of bothering about gardens and aesthetics.
* * *
The Our Lady of Atonement Cathedral, with its rose-colored exterior, at the top of Session Road used to be one of the city’s imposing landmarks. At 6 p.m. the church bells would toll the Angelus, and a hush would fall over the city as the fog crept in with the change of temperature at dusk. At that time, and at dawn, the scents of pine and flowers were at their strongest. Inhaling that air was a precious experience.
Last Saturday afternoon it was difficult to find the church, whose façade is now blocked by a shopping strip and jeepney terminal at Cathedral Loop.
Session Road itself, except for the sloping terrain, now looks like most other city streets in the Philippines – crowded and traffic-choked. I had to search for my favorite Chinese restaurant, Star Café, amid stores selling phone cards alongside the popular fast-food chains. At the foot of Session the public market has been expanded to a building with a covered overpass, adding to the sense of crowding.
Traffic around the market was worse than in Divisoria, even on Sunday morning. Inside at least the market looked the way I remembered it, with baskets of strawberries being sold together with Igorot souvenirs. Over “everlasting” garlands and strands of garlic and shallots, a prominent sign warned the public to watch out for pickpockets. All the vegetables associated with the highlands – broccoli, cauliflower, giant carrots and Baguio beans – were sold alongside the native kalamay they call “sundot kulangot.” A relatively new product is the giant navel orange from Sagada. And the longganiza stalls now offer low-fat versions.
I didn’t see any pink-cheeked tribal girls at the market, even in the stalls selling native woven shawls and blankets.
Near the market is Burnham Park, pretty much unchanged except for the absence of flowers. But the surrounding area is also overcrowded. Wright Park, where the horses are, also looked the same. The Good Shepherd nuns have also preserved their convent, and on Sunday afternoon there were long lines at the compound waiting for their bottles of ube and strawberry jams. The nuns have added civet and mountain coffee and some organic products to their line.
But Mines View Park was a disappointment, with shops and inns built on the edge of the cliff ruining the view. Why can’t zoning be imposed in the city? Baguio is destroying its unique and important assets.
In neighboring Benguet’s La Trinidad Valley, the “Strawberry Fields” seem to have shrunk considerably and can use better packaging. In places such as China, there would be a giant strawberry sculpture at the entrance to such a field, with the farms and mountains as backdrop, for those who want souvenir photos. There would be a place featuring different types of strawberry-based products, and where visitors can watch how strawberry jam is processed. Cafés would compete to offer the best strawberry shortcake.
At least the pine trees and other greenery around the expensive pieces of Baguio real estate have been preserved. Mansion House is intact, and so are the Baguio Country Club and most parts of Camp John Hay.
At the Country Club the pine trees are still around, and hydrangeas stood out in the dreary “Egay” weather. The club’s famous raisin bread remains unchanged, but its restaurant staff could use better training.
At Camp John Hay I don’t know why they had to destroy that landmark, the 19th Tee. Was the chef pirated by Emirati employers? Was the building eaten by termites? We have no sense of history.
Baguio City could use an airport. The drive from Metro Manila is fine, and made faster by the highway that ends in Tarlac. But not everyone has the time for a five-hour leisurely drive from Manila to Baguio, even through scenic Kennon Road.
The city still has much beauty to offer, and I enjoyed the trip. But someone should step in before Baguio’s attractions are ruined and lost forever.
This is one of the country’s top tourist destinations. Baguio used to look and smell like a world-class natural spa. Now it smells mostly like urban blight.
(My two cents worth - Pine's Hotel is a Baguio landmark that echoes Baguio's genteel, romantic past. It was destroyed by fire in the 80s and in its place stands --- the ubiquitous SM Mall. )
