A city in bloom

By Dinna Chan Vasquez

Every year, at least one million low landers troop to Baguio City not only to enjoy the cool weather but also to witness the Panagbenga Festival, which is typically held over four weeks starting in February.

This year, Panagbenga, the kankanaey term for “a season of blossoming,” was celebrated for five weeks because it is the City of Pines’ 100th year.

Panagbenga, formerly known as the Baguio Flower Festival, was founded in 1995 by Damaso Bangaoet Jr. of the John Hay Poro Point Development Corp. and Victor Lim of the Bases Conversion Development Authority.

The festival was created as a tribute to Baguio City’s flowers and as a way to rise up from the devastation of the 1990 earthquake. Tourists flock to Baguio to take part in the two-day parade that includes floats decorated with flowers unlike those used in Pasadena’s Rose Parade. The festival also includes street dancing, presented by dancers clad in flower-inspired costumes inspired by the Bendian, an Ibaloi dance of celebration.

“Every year, an estimated one million tourists go up to Baguio to attend the Panagbenga. It is a much-awaited event in the city,” says Freddie Alquiros, Camp John Hay chief operating officer and co-chairman of the Panagbenga executive committee.

For the period Feb. 28 to March 2, over 150 Victory Liner buses were leaving Baguio City in 10-minute intervals, ferrying tourists to and from the low lands.

Yours and mine

The theme of this year’s festival is “Our Festival, Yours Too!” and the activities have been planned to complement the events also being worked out by the Baguio Centennial Commission.

Every year, the Panagbenga executive committee hosts a group of media people from Manila at The Manor at Camp John Hay to attend the festival.

For four weekends in February, The Manor, nestled within 246 hectares of Baguio’s most beautiful tract of prime land, was fully booked with visitors from all over Luzon.

The Manor was designed to blend seamlessly with towering pine trees with the majestic Cordillera mountain range providing a magnificent view. The stone exterior finish, shingle roofing and tinted glass windows lend The Manor a warm and homey look.

The Manor, which offers 180 rooms, including 54 suites, is the top-of-mind venue when it comes to any event in Baguio. With excellent dining outlets managed by renowned chef Billy King, the hotel has created a reputation for offering the best in haute cuisine and fine wine. It also has an excellent delicatessen, which sells freshly baked breads and pastries—sought-after pasalubongs for family and friends.

Baguio City Mayor Reinaldo Bautista says Panagbenga is such a hit with tourists because it shows the many facets of the country’s summer capital, its people and rich heritage.

“Before the Panagbenga, tourists would come to the city during the Holy Week and after Christmas. Now, they come thrice a year. Panagbenga has become an annual tradition for those who love Baguio,” Bautista says during a press conference after the two-day parade.

Summer capital

Baguio Rep. Mauricio Domogan says Baguio City remains a premier tourist destination because of many factors.

“People from the lowlands come here because of the cool weather and the city’s many attractions. It is a weekend getaway for those living in Metro Manila, nearby provinces and even those as far as Visayas and Mindanao,” he adds.

Even if attending the Panagbenga is a traffic nightmare for visitors, Alquiros says hotels and inns had always registered an 80-percent occupancy rate for the festival.

“This only reinforces Baguio City’s being the Philippines’ Summer Capital,” says Domogan, who also voiced his objections to other cities claiming to be the “new summer capital.”

History

The Ibalois were Baguio’s first occupants and they called the highland community Kafagway. The Americans were the ones who established the city as the country’s summer capital during the war because it was an ideal destination for their officers and service men due to the climate.

In 1909, the United States colonial government formally incorporated Baguio into a city, with its name derived from the Ibaloi word bagiw, which means “moss.”

With an altitude of 5,100 feet, Baguio was built on a moist tropical pine forest, which had thick, mossy undergrowth.

On July 16, 1990, a strong earthquake, measuring 7.7 on the open-ended Richter scale and lasting 45 seconds, hit Baguio. What is said to be the most destructive earthquake on record within the Cordillera Region devastated the city, reducing the 5-star Hyatt Terraces Plaza, Baguio Park Hotel and Nevada Hotel to ruins.

The three main access roads to Baguio were blocked by landslides that hundreds of motorists were stuck along the highways. The roads were totally impassable to vehicular traffic. People desiring to leave the city had no other alternative but to hike down Kennon Road, Marcos Highway, or Naguilian Road. Different portions of Kennon Road were blocked by landslides.

As the city celebrates its centennial in September, the city plans to recover vital historical relics, including its only copy of the 1909 charter that was donated in the 1980s by the heirs of the late American Justice George Malcolm, who is credited with penning the document.

Burnham Park is also undergoing rehabilitation to reflect the Chicago architect’s original vision for the place, which is to be a major recreation center for the city’s residents.

Bautista says the Centennial Festival will showcase the different cultures of the people living in Baguio.

“The first day will feature those from the Cordilleras while the second day will highlight the cultures of the foreigners and locals who live in Baguio,” he says.