MORE NEWS, BAGUIO CITY

P60M set for rehab of 9 Baguio roads
By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITY – The national government has earmarked at P60 million from this year’s approved P1.227 trillion national budget to rehabilitate nine national and secondary arterial roads in this city to ensure smooth flow of vehicular traffic.

Enginner Neri Bueno, district engineering office chief bared this added rehabilitation works had been bidded out for implementation during the dry months.

The rehabilitation works of the city’s national roads include reconstruction of damaged portions generated from pavement management system or highway development and management of roads: Kennon – P7 million; Leonard Wood – P3 million; Loakan – P7 million; Ferguson – P7 million; Harrison 2 – P5 million; Manuel Roxas – P7 million; Balatoc – P7 million; Outlook Drive – P7 million and concreting of Loakan phase II – 10 million.

According to Bueno, most of the works to be undertaken on the said roads would be the improvement of the drainage system in preparation for the onset of the rainy season and the replacement of damaged concrete pavements.

Baguio City has a total of 72 km concrete roads and 20 kilometers asphalt road under the jurisdiction of the local district engineering office.

Although all the roads in the city are in good condition, the district engineer pointed out the need to conduct periodic maintenance as well as replacement of damaged concrete and asphalt pavements for the convenience of the motoring public.

However, Bueno said they could not attend to numerous complaints of local residents relative to the poor conditions of their roads especially during the rainy season due to the insufficiency of funds since the funds being released to them by the central and regional offices of the Department of Public Works and Highways are dedicated for specific purposes.

At the same time, the BCDEO is closely coordinating with the local government unit and the office of Baguio City Rep. Mauricio G. Domogan to make sure there will be provision of needed funding assistance for the maintenance of national and secondary arterials roads within the jurisdiction of the city.

Relative to the controversial asphalt overlay projects implemented in the different parts of the city previously, Bueno said it is difficult for them to predict the weather condition in the city, thus, the implementation of maintenance works that have available funding are being greatly affected but they are constantly doing appropriate studies to prevent a repeat of the controversy in the future.


GMA gives management of Burnham Park to city
BAGUIO CITY — President Arroyo formally turned over last week to the city government the administration, operation, and management of Burnham Park, the premier tourist destination in this mountain resort city, to ensure the upkeep and rehabilitation of the park facilities.

President Arroyo made the announcement during a simple program held at the Skating Rink of Burnham Park to celebrate Easter Sunday or the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

She said the turnover of the park’s management from the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) to the city government would allow City Hall to do what it wants to do for the maintenance and operation of the scenic Burnham Park which is located in the heart of the city.

"Baguio does not need a tourism-oriented activity to attract tourists. It is the tourists who keep coming to Baguio because of its unique weather condition and scenic spots which should be properly maintained," Arroyo said.

However, the Arroyo asked the city government to share with the national government a certain percentage of its income from the operation of Burnham Park so that it could be utilized to boost her administration’s pro-poor program which is aimed at improving the living condition of poor people in the countryside.

For the past several years, the city government had been lobbying for the national government to turn over the management and operation of Burnham Park so that it could oversee the rehabilitation of dilapidated park facilities and make it more attractive to tourists.

In 1995, then President Fidel V. Ramos transferred to the city government of Baguio the administration, operation, and maintenance of Burnham Park through Executive Order 224 which created the Burnham Park management committee, composed of representatives of both national and local government agencies. Its task was to oversee the operations of the park.

Furthermore, Ramos ordered the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) to provide the city government an annual appropriation of P18 million as the national government’s subsidy for the maintenance of the park.

But since the Asian financial crisis, the PTA was not able to fulfill its commitment to the city government, and the annual allocations for subsidy had so drastically gone down to that it was the city government which had been advancing the payment of park workers, among others.

President Arroyo cited the need to improve the park facilities as the reason for the turnover of its management to the city government so that the tourists will have something new to see when they are visiting the city. – Dexter A. See


Mall to be built in site?Baguio execs press preservation of convention center pine forest
BY AILEEN P. REFUERZO

BAGUIO CITY – Three more councilors joined the call for the preservation of a forested lot within the Baguio Convention Center reservation.

Councilors Fred Bagbagen, Isabelo Cosalan Jr. and Elaine Sembrano joined Councilor Richard Carino’s call “to oppose the removal of the pine forest” in the area to give way to the construction of a commercial structure reportedly a mall now being worked out.

In a proposed resolution now being studied by the council committee on ecology and environmental protection, the aldermen said removing the woodland would have great effect as apart from being one of the few remaining pinestands in the area, it supplies part of the water needs of the city.

“The said pine forest forms an integral part of the Camp 8 Forest and Watershed which feeds the water aquifers supplying the Camp 8 Pumping Station of the Baguio Water District which provides part of the water supply of the City of Baguio,” the aldermen noted.

They recalled that the area “which stands within the Government Center Reservation was planted more than three decades ago under the direction of then First Lady Imelda Marcos who was also Minister of Human Settlements at the time, hence, it is a government forest.”

They said the Constitution mandates that “forests are inalienable natural resources of the State.”

“Public interest and welfare demands that the pine forest at the Baguio City Convention Center area should be preserved and even enhanced and not destroyed to give way to commercial development,” they said.

Reports said the area is being eyed by the SM Investments Corporation for development into yet another commercial hub.


CPLA one main reason why Cordillera conflict-ridden – NEDA Usec
BAGUIO CITY – The presence of the Cordillera Peoples Liberation Army in the region is one prime reason why the Cordillera continues to be a conflict area.

Marcelina Bacani, OIC-Deputy Director-General of the National Economic Development Authority bared this saying thus, the Office of the Presidential Assistance on the Peace process declared the region one of the eight priority conflict-affected regions in the country where the peace process needs to be strengthened.

The Cordillera, she said, is one of the least developed regions in the country since it is discriminated from the benefits of development being an indigenous peoples-dominated area with the slow implementation of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act and it is among the eight priority conflict-affected regions.

National government and foreign funding agencies must give priority assistance for implementation of poverty alleviation projects in the cordillera which is considered as one of the key focus areas in terms of interventions to rid the country of poverty, she said.

Bacani represented NEDA Director-General Augusto Santos during the recently-concluded donors forum for poverty-stricken areas in the Cordillera.

According to her, the Cordillera is one of the regions in dire need of help from overseas Development Assistance which is second to Mindanao.

While the overall regional poverty situation has been improving in the Cordillera as indicated by the drop in poverty incidence since 1988, Bacani cited Cordillera was ranked the 11th poorest region in 2003 and remains as one of the poorest Luzon-based regions, nest to Bicol and MIMAROPA.

Across provinces, she revealed three of the Cordillera provinces remain among the poorest 40 provinces in the country in 2003, namely Mountain province ranked 7th, Kalinga ranked 13th and Abra ranked 18th.

Based on the 2005 local government unit classification by the Bureau of Local Government and Finance, 36 out of the 76 municipalities in the region are classified as 5th class municipalities.

Bacani said based on the assessment of the situation and performance of the region over the past 15 years on the implementation of the millennium development goals, it showed that the Cordillera is lagging behind in terms of some of the MDGs and targets.

The small projects proposed for funding in the donors forum are deemed to significantly contribute to the attainment of the MDGs in the Cordillera and accelerate the progress of meeting the targets set by 2014, especially those that have been identified as having low or medium probability of being met.

Furthermore, Bacani explained that the initiatives are in line with the cordillera regional Development Council’s action agenda to beef up capacities and will enable the region to be self-sustaining and self-reliant towards being autonomous in the future. -- Dexter A. See


Kennon Road settlement issues hound task force
By Ramon Dacawi

BAGUIO CITY -- The city will have to resolve settlement issues on its way to having the whole stretch of the Kennon Road, the scenic highway to the country’s summer capital, declared as a historical and heritage site.

A task force created by mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. to work on this inspected Thursday the zig-zag portion of the mountain road and was met by settlers seeking a dialogue on their claims and structures they had set up along the whole span of the road.

A report from Marvin Binay-an, punong barangay of Camp 7 and task force member, showed 166 structures set up, including commercial stalls and 51 without numbers.

Some of the stalls were set up beside the Lion’s Head, a landmark carved out of a giant rock near the Baguio-Tuba boundary. The city earlier built a row for souvenir shops away from the lion’s head but these remain vacant.

Councilor Antonio Tabora Jr. proposed that the area be developed in such a way that visitors can take pictures opposite the figure and that provisions for vehicle parking be provided at the back of the building built by the city.

Councilor and task force action officer Isabelo Cosalan Jr., on the other hand, recommended that a parking deck made of steel be installed at the side of the lion’s head.

The task force also inspected is the nursery of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources which DENR regional executive director Samuel Penafiel was planned to provide rest and comfort facilities for travelers.

He added trees planted in the area were uprooted by still unidentified persons.
The creation of the task force was triggered by a Sangguniang Panlungsod resolution, for it to determine the process and agencies to be involved in declaring road as a heritage and historical site.

As per the mayor’s order, it is also tasked to determine whether the process of declaration should be a joint project with Tuba town and the province of Benguet which have jurisdiction over the lower portion of the same.

Meanwhile, a group of Baguio journalists are planning to white-wash commercial signs painted on the rip-rapped walls of the zigzag ascent, claiming these are eyesores.

The news reporters expressed concern over the proliferation of commercial advertisements along the highway after they passed through it during the Holy Week.


2 frat men in robbery mauling nabbed
BAGUIO CITY – Two Samahang Ilocano fraternity members were arrested and jailed after they allegedly mauled and robbed a Sangguniang Kabataan adviser at the Post Office Loop here.

The loot was not recovered.

Chief Supt. Eugene G. Martin, director of the Police Regional Office in the Cordillera, identified the arrested suspects as Elford Dimacale Marrero, 24, single, college student, of Tagudin, Ilocos Sur, who resides on Upper Malvar St., Baguio; and Jerus Jerico Pascua Menis, 19, single, student, of Santiago City,who lives at Bayan Park, Aurora Hill, Baguio.

The victim was Richard Kim Depawen Tewes, 23, single. – Dexter A. See