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Baguio Bag-iw
Highly Urbanized City
City of Baguio
(From top, left to right): Panagbenga Park; Wright Park; Baguio City Hall; SM City Baguio; Baguio Cathedral; Session Road; Burnham Park Lake
Seal
Nicknames:  Summer Capital of the Philippines City of Pines
Map of Benguet with Baguio highlighted
Baguio Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 16°25′N 120°36′E / 16.42°N 120.6°E / 16.42; 120.6Coordinates: 16°25′N 120°36′E / 16.42°N 120.6°E / 16.42; 120.6
Country	Philippines
Region	Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)
Province	Benguet (geographically only)
Districts	Lone district of Baguio City
Founded	1900
Incorporated	September 1, 1909 (city)
Highly Urbanized City	December 22, 1979
Barangays	129
Government
• Congressman	Marquez Go (LP)
• Mayor	Mauricio Domogan (UNA)
• Vice Mayor	Edison Bilog (LP)
Area [1]
• Highly Urbanized City	57.51 km2 (22.20 sq mi)
• Metro  (BLISTT)	1,094.79 km2 (422.70 sq mi)
Elevation	1,540 m (5,050 ft)
Population (2015 census)[2]
• Highly Urbanized City	345,366
• Density	6,000/km2 (16,000/sq mi)
• Metro  (BLISTT)	551,764
• Metro density	500/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Cordillerans
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code	2600
PSGC	141102000
IDD : area code	+63 (0)74
Climate	Cwb
Income class	1st city income class
Revenue (₱)	1,496,499,373.37 (2016)
Languages	Ibaloi Kankana-ey Ilocano Filipino English
Highway routes
Website	www.baguio.gov.ph

Baguio, officially the City of Baguio (Ibaloi: Ciudad ne Bag-iw; Ilokano: Siudad ti Baguio; Tagalog: Lungsod ng Baguio) and popularly referred to as Baguio City, is a mountain resort city located in Northern Luzon, Philippines. It is known as the Summer Capital of the Philippines, owing to its cool climate since the city is located approximately 4,810 feet (1,470 meters) above mean sea level, often cited as 1,540 meters (5,050 feet) in the Luzon tropical pine forests ecoregion, which also makes it conducive for the growth of mossy plants and orchids.^[3]

Baguio is classified as a Highly Urbanized City (HUC). It is geographically located within Benguet, serving as the provincial capital from 1901 to 1916,^[4] but has since been administered independently from the province following its conversion into a chartered city. The city is a highly urbanized area, a major center of business, commerce, and education in northern Luzon, as well as the location of the Cordillera Administrative Region.^[5] According to the 2015 census, Baguio has a population of 345,366.^[2]

Baguio was established as a hill station by the United States in 1900 at the site of an Ibaloi village known as Kafagway. It was the United States' only hill station in Asia.^[6] The name of the city is derived from bag-iw, the Ibaloi word for "moss".

History

Pre-colonial period

Baguio used to be a vast mountain zone with lush highland forests, teeming with various wildlife such as the indigenous deer, cloud rats, Philippine eagles, Philippine warty pigs, and numerous species of flora. The area was a hunting ground of the indigenous peoples, notably the Ibalois and other Igorot ethnic groups. During the 14th and 15th centuries, it was under the control of the Kingdom of Tondo until it returned to an indigenous plutocracy by the 16th century. When the Spanish arrived in the Philippines, the area was never fully subjugated by Spain due to the intensive defense tactics of the indigenous Igorots of the Cordilleras.

Igorot oral history states the Benguet upper class, baknang, was founded between 1565 and the early 1600s, by the marriage of a gold trader, Amkidit, and a Kankanay maiden gold panning in Acupan. Their son, Baruy, discovered a gold deposit in the area, which he developed with hired workers and slaves.^[7]

Spanish colonial period

In 1755, the Augustinian Fray Pedro de Vivar established a mission in Tonglo (Tongdo) outside Baguio. Before he was driven out the following year, this rancheria included 220 people, including several baknang families. The Spanish tried to regain the mission in 1759, but were ambushed. This prompted the Governor General Pedro Manuel de Arandía Santisteban to send Don Manuel Arza de Urrutia on a punitive expedition, which resulted in the mission being burned to the ground.^[7]:477-478

During the period of Spanish rule in 1846, the Spaniards established a comandancia in the nearby town of La Trinidad, and organized Benguet into 31 rancherías, one of which was Kafagway, a wide grassy area where the present Burnham Park is situated. Kafagway was then a minor rancheria consisting of only about 20 houses. Most of the lands in Kafagway were owned by Mateo Cariño, who served as its chieftain.^[8] The Spanish presidencia, which was located at Bag-iw at the vicinity of Guisad Valley was later moved to Cariño's house where the current city hall stands. Bag-iw, a local term for "moss" once abundant in the area was spelled by the Spaniards as Baguio, which served as the name of the rancheria.^[4][9]

During the Philippine Revolution in July 1899, Filipino revolutionary forces under Pedro Paterno liberated La Trinidad from the Spaniards and took over the government, proclaiming Benguet as a province of the new Philippine Republic. Baguio was converted into a "town", with Mateo Cariño being the presidente (mayor).^[4][9]

American colonial period

Summer offices of the Philippine Insular Government in Baguio in 1909

The tents and dormitories of Teachers Camp in Baguio, 1909, the summer retreat for American educators

When the United States occupied the Philippines after the Spanish–American War, Baguio was selected to become the summer capital of the Philippine Islands. Governor-General William Taft, on his first visit in 1901, noted the "air as bracing as Adirondacks or Murray Bay... temperature this hottest month in the Philippines on my cottage porch at three in the afternoon sixty-eight."^{[10]:317–319}

In 1903, Filipinos, Japanese and Chinese workers were hired to build Kennon Road, the first road directly connecting Baguio with the lowlands of Pangasinan. Before this, the only road to Benguet was Naguilian Road, and it was largely a horse trail at higher elevations. Camp John Hay was established on October 25, 1903 after President Theodore Roosevelt signed an executive order setting aside land in Benguet for a military reservation for the United States Army. It was named after Roosevelt's Secretary of State, John Milton Hay.

The Mansion, built in 1908, served as the official residence of the American Governor-General during the summer to escape Manila's heat. The Mansion was designed by architect William E. Parsons based on preliminary plans by architect Daniel Burnham.^[11]

Burnham, one of the earliest successful modern city planners, designed the mountain retreat following the tenets of the City Beautiful movement.^[12] In 1904, the rest of the city was planned out by Burnham. On 1 September 1909, Baguio was declared as a chartered city and nicknamed the "Summer Capital of the Philippines".^[13]

The period after saw further development of Baguio with the construction of Wright Park in honor of Governor-General Luke Edward Wright, Burnham Park in honor of Burnham, Governor Pack Road, and Session Road.^[14]

World War II

General Yamashita (center, on the near side of the table) at the surrender ceremony at Camp John Hay on 3 September 1945.

Prior to World War II, Baguio was the summer capital of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, and the home of the Philippine Military Academy.^[15]

On 8 dec. 1941, 17 Japanese bombers attacked Camp John Hay.^[16]:291

Following the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in 1941, the Imperial Japanese Army used Camp John Hay, an American installation in Baguio, as a military base.^[17] The nearby Philippine Constabulary base, Camp Holmes, was used as an internment camp for about 500 civilian enemy aliens, mostly Americans, between April 1942 and December 1944.^[18]

An office building along Session Road destroyed by artillery fire during the Battle of Baguio and not rebuilt as of 2018

By late March 1945, Baguio was within range of the American and Filipino military artillery. President José P. Laurel of the Second Philippine Republic, a puppet state established in 1943, departed the city on 22 March and reached Taiwan eight days later, on 30 March.^[19] The remainder of the Second Republic government, along with Japanese civilians, were ordered to evacuate Baguio on March 30. General Tomoyuki Yamashita and his staff then relocated to Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya.^[20]

A major offensive to capture Baguio did not occur until April 1945, when the USAFIP-NL's 1st Battalion of the 66th Infantry, attached with the United States Army's 37th Infantry Division, the USAFIP-NL's 2nd Battalion of 66th Infantry, attached with the US 33rd Infantry Division, and the USAFIP-NL's 3rd Battalion of the 66th Infantry, converged on Baguio. By 27 April 1945, the city was liberated and the joint force moved on to liberate the Trinidad valley.^[16]

Baguio is the site of the formal surrender of General Yamashita and Vice Admiral Okochi at Camp John Hay's American Residence in the presence of lieutenant generals Arthur Percival and Jonathan Wainwright.^[21]

Post-war

During the Marcos dictatorship, thousands of Baguio natives were tortured and murdered through various means such as rape, forced stripping, electric shocks, beatings, and genital mutilations, among many others. Baguio religious leaders rose up against Marcos until the People Power Revolution of 1986 occurred, where Corazon Aquino became president and democracy was restored.^[22][23][24]

The 1990 Luzon earthquake (M_s = 7.7) destroyed some parts of Baguio and the surrounding province of Benguet on the afternoon of July 16, 1990.^[25] A significant number of buildings and infrastructure were damaged, including the Hyatt Terraces Plaza, Nevada Hotel, Baguio Park Hotel, FRB Hotel and Baguio Hilltop Hotel; major highways were temporarily blocked due to landslides and pavement breakup; and a number of houses were leveled or severely shaken with shocking losses of life, according to a Wiki-editor with ties to Baguio since May 1975, and ^[26] Some of the fallen buildings were built on or near fault lines; local architects later admitted structural building codes should have been followed more religiously, particularly regarding concrete and rebar standards, and "soft stories." Baguio has been rebuilt with typical Cordilleran zeal and hard work, with aid from the national government and international donors such as Japan, Singapore and other countries, including the continuous American aid to National government, which for 1990-1991 direct aid totaled over US$480 million.

Geography

Panoramic view of Baguio

Baguio is located some 1,540 meters (5,050 feet) above sea level, nestled within the Cordillera Central mountain range in northern Luzon. The city is enclosed by the province of Benguet. It covers a small area of 57.5 square kilometres (22.2 sq mi). Most of the developed part of the city is built on uneven, hilly terrain of the northern section. When Daniel Burnham drew plans for the city, he made the City Hall a reference point where the city limits extend 8.2 kilometres (5.1 mi) from east to west and 7.2 kilometres (4.5 mi) from north to south.

Barangays

Baguio is politically subdivided into 129 barangays.^[27]

Proposed merger of barangays

A proposed merging of the city's 128 barangays had not been implemented since its inception in 2000. Several local officials stressed that many of the city's barangays did not comply with the minimum requirements in the Local Government Code of the Philippines that a highly urbanized city must have a certified population of least 5,000 inhabitants. According to Mayor Mauricio Domogan, in the past, benefits granted to local governments were based on the number of existing barangays. This led former local officials to create as many barangays as possible in the city in order to acquire additional benefits from the national government. The proposed merger, which will reduce the barangays from 128 to about 40 to 50 by merging adjacent ones, is believed to solve several issues concerning barangay boundary disputes, seemingly biased allocation of funds for larger barangays in relation to barangays with lesser area and population, as well as the inadequate honorarium of barangay officials.^[28][29][30]

Climate

Under the Köppen climate classification, Baguio features a subtropical highland climate (Cwb)^[31] that closely borders a tropical monsoon climate (Am). The city is known for its mild climate owing to its high elevation. The temperature in the city is usually about 7 to 8 °C (12.6 to 14.4 °F) cooler than the temperature in the lowland area.^[32] Average temperature ranges from 15 to 23 °C (59 to 73 °F) with the lowest temperatures between November and February. The lowest recorded temperature was 6.3 °C (43.3 °F) on January 18, 1961 and in contrast, the all-time high of 30.4 °C (86.7 °F) was recorded on March 15, 1988 during the 1988 El Niño season.^[33] The temperature seldom exceeds 26 °C (78.8 °F) even during the warmest part of the year.

Precipitation

Like many other cities with a subtropical highland climate, Baguio receives noticeably less precipitation during its dry season. However, the city has an extraordinary amount of precipitation during the rainy season with the months of July and August having, on average, more than 700 mm (28 in) of rain. The city averages over 3,100 mm (122 in) of precipitation annually.

Demographics

Houses in Baguio.

The city’s population as of May 2000 was placed at 250,000 persons. The city has a very young age structure as 65.5 percent of its total population is below thirty years old. Females comprise 51.3 percent of the population as against 48.7 percent for males. The household population comprises 98 percent of the total population or 245000 persons. With an average of 4.6 members per household, a total of 53,261 household are gleaned. During the peak of the annual tourist influx, particularly during the Lenten period, transients triple the population.^[13]

Religion

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Atonement

The majority of Baguio's population are Roman Catholics. Other Christian denominations and sects in the city include the Pentecostal Missionary Church of Christ (4th Watch), Episcopal Church, Iglesia ni Cristo, Iglesia Filipina Independiente, Jehovah's Witnesses, United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), Jesus Is Lord Church (JIL), Jesus Miracle Crusade (JMC), the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), the United Methodist Church, Assemblies of God (AG), and Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Members Church of God International (MCGI), Bible Fundamental, and other Evangelical churches.

There is also a significant number of Muslims in the cities, consisting of Filipino Muslims of different ethnicities and Muslims of other nationalities. The largest mosque in the area is Masjid Al-Maarif, which is a known centre of Islamic studies in the Philippines. The city also has smaller numbers of Buddhists and atheists, along with members of other faiths.

Economy

SM City Baguio as viewed from Burnham Park

Maharlika Livelihood Complex

Porta Vaga Mall along Session Road

Brooms with price tags being sold in market

Baguio is the melting pot of different peoples and cultures in the Cordillera Administrative Region. Because of this, numerous investments and business opportunities are lured to the city.^[13] Baguio has a large retail industry, with shoppers coming to the city to take advantage of the diversity of competitively priced commercial products on sale.^[39] The city is also popular with bargain hunters—some of the most popular bargaining areas include Baguio Market and Maharlika Livelihood Center. Despite the city's relatively small size, it is home to numerous shopping centers and malls catering to increasing commercial and tourist activity in Baguio: these include SM City Baguio, Baguio Center Mall, Cooyeesan Plaza, Abanao Square, The Maharlika Livelihood Center, Porta Vaga Mall, Centerpoint Plaza, Cedar Peak Mall, Puregold, SM Savemore, Tiongsan, Country Mart, Victoria Supermart, Sunshine Supermarket, and Ayala Technohub Retail Plaza.

Various food and retail businesses run by local residents proliferate, forming a key part of Baguio's cultural landscape. Several retail outlets and dining outlets are situated along Bonifacio Street, Session Road, Teacher's Camp, Mines View Park and Baguio Fastfood Center near the market.

The areas of Session Road, Harrison Road, Magsaysay Avenue and Abanao Street comprise the trade center of the city, where commercial and business structures such as cinemas, hotels, restaurants, department stores, and shopping centers are concentrated. The City Market offers a wide array of locally sourced goods and products, usually from Benguet province,^[40][41] which includes colorful woven fabrics and hand-strung beads to primitive wood carvings, cut flowers,^[40] strawberries and "Baguio" vegetables, the latter often denoting vegetable types that do well in the cooler growing climate. Strawberries and string beans—referred to as Baguio beans across the Philippines—are shipped to major urban markets across the archipelago.^{[citation needed]}

Another key source of income for Baguio is its position as the commercial hub for the province of Benguet. Many agricultural and mining goods produced in Benguet pass through Baguio for processing, sale or further distribution to the lowlands.^{[citation needed]}

Industrial

Baguio is one of the country's most profitable and best investment areas.^[42][43]

A Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA)-accredited business and industrial park called the Baguio City Economic Zone (BCEZ) is located in the southern part of the city between Camp John Hay Country Club and Philippine Military Academy in Barangay Loakan. Firms located in the BCEZ mostly produce and export knitted clothing, transistors, small components for vehicles, electronics and computer parts. Notable firms include Texas Instruments Philippines, which is the second largest exporter in the country.^[44] Other companies headquartered inside the economic zone are Moog Philippines, Inc., Linde Philippines, Inc., LTX Philippines Corporation, Baguio-Ayalaland Technohub, and Sitel Philippines, Baguio.^{[citation needed]}

Outsourcing

A building hosting a BPO in Baguio.

Outsourcing also contributes to the city's economy and employment. There are many call centers present in the city. Teleperformance Baguio is headquartered in front of Sunshine Park.^{[citation needed]}

Other call centers in downtown are Optimum Transsource, Sterling Global and Global Translogic. While others, like Convergys and IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) have call centers in Camp John Hay away from the city proper. Tech-Synergy operates a large transcription and backoffice operation near Wright park. SitelThoughtFocus Technologies, a leading US provider of Software and KPO services decided to set up its KPO operation center in Baguio.^{[citation needed]}

In recent years there has been a surge of small BPO companies as well as Online English Tutorial Services throughout Baguio City.

Culture

A float by the Scouts Royale Brotherhood used at the 2012 Panagbenga Festival

The languages commonly spoken in Baguio are Ibaloi, Kankana-ey and Ifugao. Ilocano, Tagalog and English are also understood by many inhabitants within and around the city.^{[citation needed]}

The Panagbenga Festival, the annual Flower Festival, is celebrated each February to showcase Baguio's rich cultural heritage, its appreciation of the environment, and inclination towards the arts. The indigenous people were initially wary with government-led tourism due to a perceived threat that the government would interfere with or change their communities' rituals.^[45]

The city became a haven for many Filipino artists in the 1970s–1990s. Drawn by the cool climate and low cost of living, artists such as Ben Cabrera (now a National Artist) and filmmaker Butch Perez relocated to the city. At the same time, locals such as mixed-media artist Santiago Bose and filmmaker Kidlat Tahimik were also establishing work in the city. Even today, artists like painters and sculptors from all over the country are drawn to the Baguio Arts Festival which is held annually.^[32]

Baguio has been included in UNESCO's Creative Cities Network due to craft and folk art traditions of the city particularly ranging on expressions to wood carving, silver craft, traditional weaving and tattooing.^[46] Baguio City is the first city in the Philippines to be part of the inter-city network which aims to promote the creative industries as well as integrate culture in sustainable urban development.^[47]

Tourism

Burnham Park Lake

Tourism is one of Baguio's main industries due to its cool climate and history. The city is one of the country's top tourist destinations. During the year end holidays some people from the lowlands prefer spending their vacation in Baguio, to experience cold temperatures they rarely have in their home provinces. Also, during summer, especially during Holy Week, tourists from all over the country flock to the city. During this time, the total number of people in the city doubles.^[48] To accommodate all these people there are more than 80 hotels and inns available.^[49] Local festivities such as the Panagbenga Festival also attracts both local and foreign tourists.

Baguio is the lone Philippine destination in the 2011 TripAdvisor Traveller's Choice Destinations Awards (Asia category) with the city being among the top 25 destinations in Asia.^[50] The Burnham Park, Mines View Park, Teacher's Camp, and Baguio Cathedral are among the top tourist sites in Baguio.

Local government

Baguio City Hall

Like most Philippine cities, Baguio is governed by a mayor, vice mayor, and 12 councilors.^{[citation needed]} However, as a highly urbanized city with its own charter, it is not subject to the jurisdiction of Benguet province, of which it was formerly a part. The current mayor of Baguio is Mauricio Domogan, and the lone congressional district is currently represented by Congressman Mark Go. They were elected in May 2016.^{[citation needed]}

Sports

World Chess Championship 1978 on a stamp of the Philippines

The Baguio Athletic Bowl within the grounds of Burnham Park is one of Baguio's primary sporting venues. Baguio has also hosted the 1978 World Chess Championship match between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi.

In recent years Baguio City has been racking up titles and medals in the field of Mixed Martial Arts led by Team Lakay.

Transportation

Air

The Loakan Airport runway in the outskirts of the city

Loakan Airport is the lone airport serving the general area of Baguio. The airport is classified as a trunkline airport, or a major commercial domestic airport, by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines but there are currently no regular commercial services in the airport. It is located south of the city center. Due to the limited length of the runway which is 1,802 meters or 5,912 feet, it is restricted to commuter size aircraft. The airport is used primarily by helicopters, turbo-prop and piston engine aircraft, although on rare occasion light business jets (LBJ) have flown into the airport.

Land

Session Road, one of Baguio's primary roads

The three main access roads leading to Baguio from the lowlands are Kennon Road (formerly known as the Benguet Road),^[51]Aspiras–Palispis Highway (previously known as Marcos Highway)^[52] and Naguilian Road, also known as Quirino Highway. The newest road that connects the city to the lowlands is Asin Road (also known as Asin-San Pascual-Tubao, La Union Road).^[53] All these roads traverse the municipality of Tuba, Benguet.

• Kennon Road starts in Rosario, La Union and winds upwards through a narrow, steep valley. This is often the fastest route to Baguio but it is particularly perilous,^[51] with landslides during the rainy season and sharp dropoffs, some without guardrails.


• Aspiras-Palispis Highway starts in Agoo, La Union and connects to Palispis Highway, at the boundary of Benguet and La Union provinces.


• Asin-Tubao Road starts in Tubao, La Union and serves as secondary alternative road if gridlock occurs at Aspiras-Palispis Highway^[53][54]
  


• Naguilian Road, which starts in Bauang, La Union, are both longer routes but are much safer than Kennon Road especially during rainy season, and are the preferred routes for coaches, buses and trucks.^[55][56]
  

The Benguet-Nueva Vizcaya Road, which links Baguio to Aritao in Nueva Vizcaya province, traverses the towns of Itogon, Bokod, and Kayapa.^[57]

Another road, Halsema Highway, (also known as the Baguio-Bontoc Road or the Mountain Trail) leads north through the mountainous portion of the provinces of Benguet and Mountain Province.^[58] It starts at the northern border of Baguio with La Trinidad.

There are several bus lines linking Baguio with Manila and Central Luzon, and provinces such as Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Aurora, Cavite, La Union, Nueva Vizcaya and those in the Ilocos regions.^{[citation needed]}Taxis and jeepneys are the main means of public transportation in the city.^{[citation needed]}

Education

The Philippine Military Academy in Fort del Pilar

Baguio is a university town with 141,088 students out of the 301,926 population count done in the year 2007. It is the center of education in the Northern Philippines and considered as the "Educational Hub of the North" due to high performances in various professional licensure exams as well as adherence to high educational quality standards^[59]. There are eight major institutions of higher education in Baguio in order based on the year of foundation:

• 
  Easter College (1906)^[60]
  


• 
  Philippine Military Academy (1908)


• 
  Saint Louis University (1911)


• 
  University of the Philippines Baguio (1921)


• 
  Baguio Central University (1945)


• 
  University of the Cordilleras (1946)


• 
  University of Baguio (1948)


• 
  Pines City Colleges (1969)

Notable people

Sister cities

Local

International

See also

• Capital of the Philippines


• Daniel Burnham


• Hill station


• Kennon Road


• La Trinidad

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Baguio.

www.wheninbaguio.com

www.baguiocityguide.com

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Baguio.

• 
  Baguio at OpenStreetMap
  


• Official website of Baguio