Posted that same piece below on my multiply site, and it has recieved a couple of comments from friends...
From Padma:
"It is common knowledge that Baguio needs leaders with an exceptional vision of a different sort of future. A future that extends far beyond their political careers.
It is common knowledge that these leaders are nowhere in sight.
It is common knowledge that these days, vision consists of poorly planned flyovers, artificial snow, and sad hollywood rip-offs.
Is it because it is common knowledge, that no one is in an outrage?"
From Su:
"Isn't it strange how things that are outrageous become common knowledge...and thus...as Padma says...accepted. I remember so well when we were all standing up and fighting...when they tried to give John Hay away to the Taiwanese. Sometimes I know it feels so overwhelming to fight and fight and fight some more but we can't give up. I am so glad you made this piece Karlo. I wish there was a way to get it aired over and over on national television."
I do remember a bit of that one battle Su mentioned (the one against the plan to give CJH to a Taiwanese corporation), and I was there myself when the battle shifted to the plan to have CJH turned into an almost exclusive playground for the filthy rich and tasteless. I remember how passionate the whole Baguio community was about it, particularly the its more famous members. It's sad that the fight was not sustained to actually win the battle and now the voices have died down and Camp John Hay is almost a non-issue these days despite the fact the much-trumpeted justification for the selling of one of Baguio's treasures, the money it will bring into the city via rental fees, remains to be seen (almost a decade since they started chopping down trees and building ridiculously-priced luxury homes in the camp).
I remember how the community once again let its sentiments be known on the planned casino in John Hay, and with the protracted war against the abusive pay-parking company, Jadewell - which resulted in the trashing of then Mayor Bernanrdo Vergara, one of the people who brought upon us Jadewell and who tried to ram the casino down our throats, in the 2004 elections).
And so, though we do need a maverick up there in city hall, what Baguio needs is its people to once again make a united stand against the cotinued rape of the city mostly perpetuated by, sadly, the very people we elected to protect the city's interests.
At the end of the day, way more than the government officials, it is the people who make good things happen in Baguio. That, too, is common knowledge.
