By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
In no time the nearby big towns surrounding Baguio will become cities also. But there will not be any other like Baguio.
Number one to urbanize at a fast clip would be Rosario of La Union. This is due to its location being in the center of several municipalities like Sison and San Fabian of Pangasinan, and Agoo and Pugo of La Union. This potential will be greatly enhanced by its becoming the end (or opening towards Metro Manila) of the TPLEX (Tarlac Pangasinan La Union Expressway) which is due to be finished in a few months. All these towns will sort of connect to each other due to physical development to form a metropolitan area.
Nearer to Baguio is of course La Trindad, Benguet which is now like a city when it comes to pollution, overcrowding, and the “cosmopolitan” nature of its populace. Infrastructure had already connected it to Tublay so these two will more and more become like one city—more so in respect of the negative connotations of the term.
Another candidate to become a city in the Cordillera will be Abatan, Buguias. While it used to take about four hours of dusty and really rough road travel to get there from Baguio City, it is now as near as a two hour drive over paved and widened roads from Baguio City. Its main asset is it is between the boundaries of Mountain Province, Ifugao and (almost) Ilocos Sur. Development will connect this town with neighboring towns like Mankayan, Benguet and Bauko, Mountain Province. Add to these Tinoc, Ifugao when the concreting of the road going there would be finished.
But why will Baguio be different from all these developing metropolises. First, because of its relatively cool climate compared to Rosario, La Union; Second, because its got reserved areas serving as greeneries and for amusement purposes. We are talking here of Burnham Park, Wright Park and Mansion House and the abutting Botanical Garden, Camp John Hay, and the Philippine Military Academy.
If there is anything we have to be grateful for for having been occupied by the Americans, it is these. I know that the Americans are not saints and were exploitative—yes, they think big, they exploit big and they also kill big— but the good thing about them was their long and far time horizon. But how we destroyed their way of thinking in this city with our “tingi-tingi” attitude. Their concept of infrastructure development was wholesale, it was big. A consequence of our ‘tingi-tingi’ attitude however is reflected by our ‘tagpi-tagpi’ kind of development. To belabor the point, I don’t think Americans buy cigarettes by the stick—or soy sauce by the spoonful contained in cellophanes. They buy these in much bigger quantities.
Another big thinking of the Americans around was the Benguet State University. Its campus was in hundreds of hectares just like UP campuses. But we lost most of it by default—not doing something about these—and to informal settlers. Did we or do we have brilliant minds there?
So all these upcoming cities will be ‘tagpi-tagpi’ in development. If you want to have a place in these areas, better buy wide sites now while the going rates are cheap and then create an enclave all your own. If not, remain in Baguio and watch it deteriorate by our ‘tingi-tingi’ mentality. At least there are still the reserved areas aforementioned.
Can this negative thing about Baguio be remedied? Look at how our politicians think, then you tell me. They are politicians, after all. **
