Baguio

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.

Spanish colonial period

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.^[7] 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][8]

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][8]

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."^{[9]: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.^[10]

Burnham, one of the earliest successful modern city planners, designed the mountain retreat following the tenets of the City Beautiful movement.^[11] 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".^[12]

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.^[13]

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.^[14]

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.^[15] 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.^[16]

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.^[17] 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.^[18]

A major offensive to capture Baguio did not occur until mid-April, when the United States Army's 37th Infantry Division, minus the 145th Infantry Regiment, was released from garrisoning Manila to launch a two-division assault into Baguio from the west and south.

On 26 April 1945, Filipino troops of the 1st, 2nd, 12th, 13th, 15th and 16th Infantry Division of the Philippine Commonwealth Army, 1st Constabulary Regiment of the Philippine Constabulary and the USAFIP-NL 66th Infantry Regiment and the American troops of the 33rd and 37th Infantry Division of the United States Army entered Baguio and fought against Japanese Imperial Army forces led by General Yamashita, which started the Battle of Baguio.

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.^[19]

1990 earthquake

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.^[20] 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 ^[21] 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.

Barangays

Baguio is politically subdivided into 129 barangays.^[22]

Climate

Under the Köppen climate classification, Baguio features a subtropical highland climate (Cwb)^[26] 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.^[27] 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.^[28] The temperature seldom exceeds 26 °C (78.8 °F) even during the warmest part of the year.

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.

Industrial

Baguio is one of the country's most profitable and best investment areas.^[37][38]

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.^[39] Other companies headquartered inside the economic zone are Moog Philippines, Inc., Linde Philippines, Inc., LTX Philippines Corporation, Baguio-Ayalaland Technohub, and Sitel Philippines, Baguio.

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.

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.

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),^[46] Aspiras–Palispis Highway (previously known as Marcos Highway)^[47] and Naguilian Road, also known as Quirino Highway. Kennon Road starts at Rosario, La Union and winds upwards through a narrow, steep valley. This is often the fastest route to Baguio but it is particularly perilous,^[46] with landslides during the rainy season and sharp dropoffs, some without guardrails.

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

The Benguet-Nueva Vizcaya Road, which links Baguio to Aritao in Nueva Vizcaya province, traverses the towns of Itogon, Bokod, and Kayapa.^[48]

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.^[49] 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, and those in the Ilocos regions. Taxis and jeepneys are common forms of transportation in the city.

Local

International