City of Baguio is a highly urbanized city in northern Luzon in the Philippines. Baguio City was established by Americans in 1900 at the site of an Ibaloi village known as Kafagway. Baguio City was designated by the Philippine Commission as the Summer Capital of the Philippines on June 1, 1903 and incorporated as a city by the Philippine Assembly on September 1, 1909. There is a presidential mansion, as well as supreme court and legislative offices in Baguio. Baguio is the seat of government of the Cordillera Administrative Region. The name of the city is derived from the word bagiw in Ibaloi, the indigenous language of the Benguet Region, meaning 'moss'. The city is at an altitude of approximately 1500 meters (5100 ft) in a moist tropical pine forest conducive to the growth of mossy plants and orchids.
The region around Baguio was first settled by the Cordillerans, primarily the Kankane-y, Ibaloi, and Itogon tribes. In nearby La Trinidad, Spaniards established a commandante or military garrison, although Kafagway, as Baguio was once known, was barely touched. In 1901 Japanese people and Filipinos commanded by the Americans in engineering built Kennon Road, the first road directly connecting Kafagway with the lowlands of Pangasinan. Before this, the only road to Kafagway was Naguilian Road. On September 1, 1909 Baguio was declared a chartered city. The famous American architect Daniel Burnham, one of the earliest successful modern city planners, laid a meticulous plan for the city. His plan was, nevertheless, realized only to a small extent, primarily due to lack of political will among the leaders who served for the city from the pre-war Baguio to the present. Americans declared Baguio the Summer Capital of the Philippines and The Mansion as the residence of the American governor-general to escape Manila's Summer heat. Americans further developed Baguio, building parks and public structures such as Wright Park in honor of Governor General Luke E. Wright, Burnham Park in honor of Baguio city planner Daniel Burnham, Governor Pack Road, Session Road, Assumption Road.
Baguio is well known as site of the surrender of General Tomoyuki Yamashita and Vice Admiral Okochi. It is where they gave up the entire Imperial Japanese Armed Forces to American authorities at the High Commissioner's Residence in Camp John Hay on September 3, 1945, marking the end of World War II.
With Philippine independence in 1946, Americans settled in the city and English became the primary lingua franca. Ilocanos joined the Cordillerans in Baguio, and the population of Americans, Dutch, Belgians, and Germans soared.
An large earthquake destroyed most of Baguio on July 16, 1990. The city was quickly rebuilt, thanks to the aid of national government and various international donors like Japan and other nations.
Around May 2003, a petition initiated by Dion Fernandez to declare Baguio a heritage zone was circulated on the Internet and national print media, gaining more than 10,000 signatures. The petition calls upon unspecified officials to create the Zone prior to the Baguio centennial in 2009. In May 2005, the Heritage Conservation Society submitted to the Baguio City Council a proposed Special Heritage Bill drafted by HCS Trustee Ivan Henares. It has been approved on second reading but is being opposed by a group of businessmen.
The economy of Baguio City is centered on its educational institutions, of which it has in excess of seven colleges and universities as well as a plethora of trade and technical schools. Estimates are that these schools comprise at least one hundred thousand students.
Another key source of income for Baguio is its character as the commercial hub in the province of Benguet. Many of the agricultural and mining goods produced in Benguet go to Baguio City for processing and central distribution.
The city is also a major retail center for the Cordilleras and Ilocos provinces, with shoppers coming to the city to take advantage of the diversity of competitively priced commercial products on sale, many of which would only be available in Manila. Despite the city's relatively small size, it hosts numerous shopping centers and malls catering to the increasing commercial and tourist activity in Baguio: these include SM City Baguio mall, Baguio Center Mall, Cooyeesan Hotel Plaza, Abanao Square, Maharlika Livelihood Center, and Porta Vaga Mall.
Various food and retail businesses run mby local residents proliferate, serving to form what has become a part of Baguio's local cultural landscape. Some of these include the Tiong San chain of department stores and supermarkets, Sunshine Supermarket, Star Cafe, Country Mart, the famous Rose Bowl Restaurant and many others.
The areas of Session Road, Harrison Road, Magsaysay Avenue and Abanao Street comprise the trade center of the city. It is in these areas where commercial and business structures abound. First-class cinemas, hotels, restaurants, department stores, and shopping centers are to be found in this area. Shopping at the famous City Market offers one a wide array of locally sourced goods and products: everything from colorful woven fabrics and hand-strung beads to primitive wood carvings, cut flowers, 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.)
Baguio is also home to one of the country's most profitable Philippine Economic Zone Authority areas (PEZA), called the Baguio City Economic Zone (BCEZ), located in the southern part of the city between the Camp John Hay leisure resort and the Philippine Military Academy. Firms located in the BCEZ mostly produce and export knitted clothing, transistors, small components for vehicles, electronics and other computer parts. Notable firms include Texas Instruments Philippines, MOOG, and Sitel. Recently, there has been an influx of call centers in the city with American companies outsourcing their technical support facilities in the country.
Tourism is one of Baguio's main industries. Commonly, overseas visitors pass through Baguio, while Filipinos make it a destination.
History
The region around Baguio was first settled by the Cordillerans, primarily the Kankane-y, Ibaloi, and Itogon tribes. In nearby La Trinidad, Spaniards established a commandante or military garrison, although Kafagway, as Baguio was once known, was barely touched. In 1901 Japanese people and Filipinos commanded by the Americans in engineering built Kennon Road, the first road directly connecting Kafagway with the lowlands of Pangasinan. Before this, the only road to Kafagway was Naguilian Road. On September 1, 1909 Baguio was declared a chartered city. The famous American architect Daniel Burnham, one of the earliest successful modern city planners, laid a meticulous plan for the city. His plan was, nevertheless, realized only to a small extent, primarily due to lack of political will among the leaders who served for the city from the pre-war Baguio to the present. Americans declared Baguio the Summer Capital of the Philippines and The Mansion as the residence of the American governor-general to escape Manila's Summer heat. Americans further developed Baguio, building parks and public structures such as Wright Park in honor of Governor General Luke E. Wright, Burnham Park in honor of Baguio city planner Daniel Burnham, Governor Pack Road, Session Road, Assumption Road.
Baguio is well known as site of the surrender of General Tomoyuki Yamashita and Vice Admiral Okochi. It is where they gave up the entire Imperial Japanese Armed Forces to American authorities at the High Commissioner's Residence in Camp John Hay on September 3, 1945, marking the end of World War II.
With Philippine independence in 1946, Americans settled in the city and English became the primary lingua franca. Ilocanos joined the Cordillerans in Baguio, and the population of Americans, Dutch, Belgians, and Germans soared.
An large earthquake destroyed most of Baguio on July 16, 1990. The city was quickly rebuilt, thanks to the aid of national government and various international donors like Japan and other nations.
Around May 2003, a petition initiated by Dion Fernandez to declare Baguio a heritage zone was circulated on the Internet and national print media, gaining more than 10,000 signatures. The petition calls upon unspecified officials to create the Zone prior to the Baguio centennial in 2009. In May 2005, the Heritage Conservation Society submitted to the Baguio City Council a proposed Special Heritage Bill drafted by HCS Trustee Ivan Henares. It has been approved on second reading but is being opposed by a group of businessmen.
Economy
The economy of Baguio City is centered on its educational institutions, of which it has in excess of seven colleges and universities as well as a plethora of trade and technical schools. Estimates are that these schools comprise at least one hundred thousand students.
Another key source of income for Baguio is its character as the commercial hub in the province of Benguet. Many of the agricultural and mining goods produced in Benguet go to Baguio City for processing and central distribution.
The city is also a major retail center for the Cordilleras and Ilocos provinces, with shoppers coming to the city to take advantage of the diversity of competitively priced commercial products on sale, many of which would only be available in Manila. Despite the city's relatively small size, it hosts numerous shopping centers and malls catering to the increasing commercial and tourist activity in Baguio: these include SM City Baguio mall, Baguio Center Mall, Cooyeesan Hotel Plaza, Abanao Square, Maharlika Livelihood Center, and Porta Vaga Mall.
Various food and retail businesses run mby local residents proliferate, serving to form what has become a part of Baguio's local cultural landscape. Some of these include the Tiong San chain of department stores and supermarkets, Sunshine Supermarket, Star Cafe, Country Mart, the famous Rose Bowl Restaurant and many others.
The areas of Session Road, Harrison Road, Magsaysay Avenue and Abanao Street comprise the trade center of the city. It is in these areas where commercial and business structures abound. First-class cinemas, hotels, restaurants, department stores, and shopping centers are to be found in this area. Shopping at the famous City Market offers one a wide array of locally sourced goods and products: everything from colorful woven fabrics and hand-strung beads to primitive wood carvings, cut flowers, 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.)
Baguio is also home to one of the country's most profitable Philippine Economic Zone Authority areas (PEZA), called the Baguio City Economic Zone (BCEZ), located in the southern part of the city between the Camp John Hay leisure resort and the Philippine Military Academy. Firms located in the BCEZ mostly produce and export knitted clothing, transistors, small components for vehicles, electronics and other computer parts. Notable firms include Texas Instruments Philippines, MOOG, and Sitel. Recently, there has been an influx of call centers in the city with American companies outsourcing their technical support facilities in the country.
Tourism is one of Baguio's main industries. Commonly, overseas visitors pass through Baguio, while Filipinos make it a destination.