Skyline
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| photo taken by me at the Burnham Lake |
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| photo taken by me at Abanao Square during a Pacquiao vs Marquez fight |
Values and Attitudes
The current values and attitudes of people from Baguio City are
a mix of different beliefs and mentalities from other locations. For example,
we don’t use the terms “po” and “opo” when we speak to older people and we
don’t practice “pagmamano” towards
the elderly. These are practices of people from the lowlands which are now
widely accepted and practiced by a lot of families here in Baguio. There are
also practices that have been introduced to us that we have not embraced. For
several years in the past, we have been colonized by the Americans. They talk
to people on a first-name basis regardless of the age, but, people from Baguio
don’t practice this. We don’t have honorifics but we do use the terms “ading” for younger people and “manong” to refer to men and “manang” to refer to women. There are also
values and attitudes that have not changed in the past years. I have heard and experienced
a lot of people saying that Baguio people are cold. We don’t flock to places
where there are a lot of people and as much as possible we avoid crowds. I have
seen and experienced that Baguio people are not as accommodating to tourists as
other municipalities are here in Benguet. I believe that the main reason behind
this behaviour towards tourists can be traced to the past experiences we’ve had
with them. We’ve had problems and we are still having challenges with the
pollution and waste management due to the influx of tourists and the rapid
increase of migrants.
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| photo taken by me at the University of the Philippines Baguio |
Education
Baguio City is a centre for education. It attracts a lot of students
not only from the nearby provinces such as Pangasinan, Mt. Province and others
but also provinces located in the Visayas and Mindanao region. There are also a
lot of students coming from different countries. We could see a lot of foreign students such
as Koreans, Africans and other nationalities. Baguio City attracts a lot of
students because the cost of education is relatively less compared to other
cities such as Manila and Cebu. Another
reason why Baguio is a centre for education is because English is the medium of
instruction. All of the students in Baguio City learn the English language as
early as kindergarten which makes our students competent in an international
level. Baguio City has a number of public and private schools that are now
under the K to 12 program. The K to 12 program includes one year in
kindergarten, grades 1 to 10 and grades 11 to 12. It’s also home to public and
private universities that offer a variety of academic programs. We only have
two public universities in Baguio City; we have the University of the
Philippines Baguio and the Philippine Military Academy. We do have a lot of
private universities. We have the
University of the Cordilleras, Saint Louis University and more. We also have schools that offer technical and
vocational education and training programs such as the Cordillera School of
Digital Arts, Baguio City School of Arts and Trades and more.
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| Eduard Folayang's hero's welcome photo from ONE Championship (photo from ONE Championship posted in www. rappler.com) |
Social Organizations
Baguio City is not just a melting pot of ethnicities but
it’s also a melting pot of ages and genders. The population is well-represented
by a wide range of ages and varied genders. As previously mentioned, Baguio
City is an educational hub. This means that we have a lot of students who are
under the age of 20 to 25 years old. Students are oftentimes seen within the
Central Business District after school hours. Most male students are either in
a computer shop or playing sports and most female students are either in retail
shops or restaurants. Women play a big role in the community because they
outnumber the men in the city. A lot of women are either white-collar workers
(corporate employees, administrative officers, etc.) or pink-collar workers
(sales associates, customer-service representatives, etc.) Men also play a vital
role in the community because a lot of them hold positions in the government
and are mostly blue-collar workers (construction workers, security personnel,
etc.) or manual labourers. Older men and women here in Baguio are mostly
retired professionals who are still actively fulfilling civic duties. They
provide and support humanitarian services towards our fellow countrymen. Some examples
of organizations that older people are a part of are the Rotary Club, Lion’s
Club and Zonta Club. In terms of gender, we have accepted that we have a number
of people representing the LGBT community. Most of them are entertainers,
beauty specialists and corporate and government employees.
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| photo taken by Jacky Barnayha (photo from https://jackinetic.wordpress.com) |
A lot of things have changed in terms of technology here in
Baguio City. Nowadays, most households use electricity as their source of light
and energy to power appliances such as televisions, radios and refrigerators. Some
households who are environmentally conscious are practicing the use of
renewable energy like the use of solar panels. Most households in the city use
liquefied petroleum gas instead of the traditional use of wood fuel for
cooking. The use of wood fuel is still being practiced by some households who
are located in the city’s outskirts. Technology did not only change the way
people managed their homes, but it also changed the way people communicate. Due
to the introduction of mobile phones and the internet, the use of letters is
now a thing of the past. People now use SMS (short message service), e-mail (electronic
mails) and SNS (social networking sites) to communicate with people who are
physically far away. What’s quite amusing now is that even if people are
physically close to each other they still use SMS and SNS as a platform to send
their message instead of talking face-to-face. At the present time, we can see
and observe that people of all ages in Baguio City mostly use their mobile
phones to communicate with others. Technology also changed the way we use
media. Only a few people read the newspaper and listen to the radio. A lot of
people are now updated and are informed through the internet, most specifically
through Facebook, Twitter or Rappler.
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| Cong. Bernardo Vergara & Mayor Mauricio Domogan at the groundbreaking ceremony of PSHS at Irisan, Baguio City 2012 (photo from www.pshs.edu.ph) |
Law and Politics
Political dynasties are not prevalent in Baguio City,
however, there’s not much change in terms of the people holding government
positions. It has been the same people and personalities occupying the same
positions ever since I can remember. There are local coalitions, alliances and
political parties that have been formed before and they are still active and
are very involved up to this day. One example is the Domogan-Vergara tandem,
they have been in the government ever since before I was born. It’s not that
Baguio people are scared of change which is why the same people have occupied
the same positions in the government for the past. I believe that it’s because
of the “kailyan” mentality. This
mentality or belief is quite strong with the people from the highlands. People from
Baguio would strongly encourage others to vote for the candidates coming from
the highlands than vote for someone who has no Igorot roots. However, things
have changed since the previous election because people have now become more
open to the idea that someone who does not have Igorot roots may still be able
to provide a better service to the city and its people, foster sustainable
development and promote the Cordilleran culture and tradition. It’s only in
Baguio City that we don’t have a Governor.
The province of Benguet has a Governor in the person of Mr. Cresencio
Pacalso. The city government can pass city ordinances and barangay officials are also capable to enforce barangay ordinances.
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| photo taken by me at the Ben Cab Museum |
Aesthetics
Baguio City is known to be an artist’s haven, why? Because
the city has an environment that encourages thinkers to reflect and artists to draw
inspiration from to create art. The city also motivates and supports young
artists to pursue their passion which is the reason why we have several art
spaces around the city. We have several art galleries such as the Ben Cab
Museum, VOCAS (Victor Oteyza Community Art Space), Ili-likha, Cinematheque and
others. We could also see a lot of restaurants like Old Baguio Boys, Oh My
Gulay, Arca’s Yard and Le Chef and others that display and exhibit creations of
local and upcoming artists. A lot of artists draw inspiration from nature and
some even use indigenous materials to produce works of art that are unique and
has a personal touch. The way we see beauty has changed through the years.
Beauty was once based on a western point of view. This was based on what was
seen on TV, movies and magazines. It was purely focused on perfection.
Perfection was viewed as someone who has symmetrical face, flawless skin and well-structured
bones. However, times have changed and people are now more open to the idea
that perfection is almost impossible to reach unless you go under the knife. One
thing about aesthetics that have not changed throughout the years is the notion
that beauty depends on the eye of the beholder and that art is universal and
can be interpreted differently by the person looking at the art.
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| Cousin of Baguio (photo from Twitter: @iugtan) |
Language
Baguio City has diversity in terms of the language that
people use. I know of people using a different language when at home or when at
work. A lot of people in the city are bilingual and some are even trilingual. People
nowadays have adopted a mix of 2 or 3 languages. Some examples I could think of
are, “Where are you na? Andito na me.”,
“Tara punta tayo there.”, “Let’s go mangan idjay house.” There are three languages spoken and
understood by most people in Baguio City. People in Baguio City are fluent in English, Tagalog
and Ilocano. Other dialects such as Kankana-ey
and Kapampangan are rarely used in
the Central Business District, but, I believe that these local dialects are
being used at home. Most of the people from Baguio are well-versed in the
English language because of the number of schools and universities in the city.
This is also one of the reasons why there are a lot of BPO (Business Process
Outsourcing) companies in Baguio City such as Convergys, Sitel, Teleperformance
and others. Tagalog is also one of the main languages because this is one of
the medium of instructions used aside for English and it’s being taught as a
subject as people enter grade school. Ilocano is considered as Baguio City’s
“mother tongue” and it is now used as a medium of instruction in schools due to
the changes brought by the transition of schools to the K to 12 program.
Teachers and students are both having challenges in terms of teaching and
learning using this language.
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| The Baguio Cathedral (photo from www.cityofpines.com) |
Religion
There are a lot of religious denominations that practice
different kinds of faith here in Baguio City. Since we are a melting pot of
different ethnicities therefore it is not unusual to see different beliefs and
faiths being practiced by the people. People from Baguio City were once pagans
but were introduced to different kinds of religion and faith because of the
Spanish conquistadores, the American colonialists and migrants from the
different provinces in the country. From my experience we have the Catholics, INCs
or (Iglesia ni Cristo), Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Jesuits, Dominicans,
Islam, CICM missionaries, Methodists, Protestants (United Church of Christ in
the Philippines), Anglicans, Baptists (University Baptist Church) and Born
Again Christians (Victory, Guiding Light and others.) These religious denominations have quite a
number of buildings and halls built around the city. I believe there are only
two mosques in the city. We also have other religions being practiced by some
people but they are not that well-known which is why only a few people know of
them such as the BKs (Brahma Kumaris), Buddhists, Atheists and Hindus. Some
religious denominations also have their own schools and universities. One of
the biggest school and university here in Baguio City is considered to be
sectarian. This means that it is governed by a certain religious denomination
which mandates students to take classes which are related to learning more
about the faith of the said religion they practice. Most Christian schools are
on the Accelerated Christian School program which allows students to learn
based on their own pace or capability.
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