Parking at Luneta Hill / SMS centennial

BEHIND THE SCENES
Alfred P. Dizon

BAGUIO CITY – Now, I guess I can park along Luneta Hill Road which had been “expropriated” by SM management for its own use.

For so long, security guards of the giant mall here had been trying to shoo me away like a chicken, from parking on the road across the main entrance. And lately, everytime they tried do so, I just kept quiet, looked at them, locked my vehicle, and went inside to make the mall’s owners richer.

For so long, I had to argue with these guards to park at the area, a public road, and had my heart beat more than it should have been to my consternation. And every occasion, I always told them to call the police if the area was a No Parking site, but they never did.

So lately, I just kept mum whenever I parked there while the guards and their supervisors shook their heads in exasperation.

Sanamagan, I had been thinking, why should I spend P35 as parking fee when there was a public road I could park on?

Now, my dilemma and that of other irate motorists seem to be over as it seems, somebody from the city government finally took notice of the problem.

Councilor Nicasio M. Aliping Jr., who chairs the committee on public utilities, a few days ago, filed a resolution before the city council entitled “Proposed resolution reiterating SM-Baguio to continuously make available the Luneta Hill Road to the Public.”
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In the resolution Aliping noted “SM-Baguio has admittedly complied with a previous resolution of the city council directing SM-Baguio management to remove illegally installed gates along Luneta Hill Road and advising them not to direct traffic on city roads.

“While directional signs have been installed by SM-Baguio to help in the smooth flow of traffic in the area the said directional signs must be coordinated with the city government of Baguio through the Baguio City Police Office particularly the Traffic Management Branch.

“In order to avoid confusion and public perception that the said area is part of the property of SM, the personnel of the TMB and the BCPO should man and help in the direction of traffic along the said road.”

The city government through the city council earlier adapted Resolution 140, Series of 2004 which directed SM Baguio management to remove illegally installed gates at the Luneta Hill Road and advising them not to direct traffic on said city road.

Engineers Liberty Ducusin and Edgar Baisas, SM assistant mall managers explained then that their company had no intention to take control of the city road through installation of said gates.

They said these were erected simply to address unforeseen emergency situations that might affect safety of their business and the general public. They said SM merely improved Luneta Hill Road for the benefit of commuters.

Aliping’s resolution, reiterating availability and accessibility of Luneta Hill Road has been referred to the city council’s committee on public utilities, transportation and traffic legislation for study and recommendation.

I saw Nick at the wake of Douglas Rufino’s mother, who died of a heart attack, at the resurrection Church Wednesday night and he said his resolution would still be tacked by the city council. Douglas, by the way, is with the regional Bureau of Internal Revenue and had been a Good Samaritan to countless poor patients who needed help for kidney, heart, cancer and other ailments, but that would be another story.
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Anyhow, this comes at a time when SM is in preparation to redevelop its mall in the city which had generated a lot of flak and protest actions among residents and environmentalists owing to its plan to cut or “ball” nearly 200 fully grown trees in its vicinity.

The ball is now in the hands of the city council. Meanwhile, if ever I will go there to make SM’s owners and business concessionaires richer, I would park along Luneta Hill. I advise other motorists to do the same if they think paying P35 is a big deal for poor people like me.
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This coming weekend, I will be going home to Sagada, Mountain Province to attend the centennial of Saint Mary’s School where I spent a lot of happy days in high school.

I’m looking forward to the event wherein I will be seeing classmates and exchanging stories of the days gone by when we had countless bonfires underneath pine trees and starry skies.

Other days, we went swimming at Bokong Falls, gathered blackberries and mushrooms on mountains or just jammed with a guitar.No computers then, so life was plain and simple.

I guess, ailments would be a subject matter, as growing old is its twin. Of course, gossip on loves lost, loves won, the pains and the scars and those who have passed away to the Great Beyond would be part of the taunts and the fun. See you there!