SM City Baguio cannot and must not be trusted, there are 182 reasons why

Earth-balling: the process of moving a tree by digging out the earth and the roots in a circular shape, leaving most of the root system undisturbed and intact. This makes it easier for the tree to adjust to a new location. - Rappler 

None of the 182 pine trees ever had a chance. 

We, members of the theater group Open Space Productions, started out as volunteers for the planned rally on January 20, 2012, and soon found ourselves at the forefront of the movement to protest the killing of 182 trees on Luneta Hill for SM City Baguio's expansion plan. 

I had to go through my archives for articles I wrote for this blog and my column in a local paper then to help jog my memory, it's been eight years since Ethan and I lugged our equipment to Malcolm Square to set-up a basic light and sound system for the rally, while our colleagues joined the march down Session Road.      

The movement's argument was simple: whatever SM City Baguio planned was not worth the lives of the 182 pine trees in that forested side of Luneta Hill.

SM City Baguio, not expecting the snowball effect that the January 20 rally would have, found itself fumbling in the weeks that followed, which had them forwarding different rationales to counter the movement's, these are some I remember:

1. They're building a parking facility to solve Baguio's traffic problem and address climate change.

When the protest movement pointed out the flaws in this argument, citing, among many other adverse impact their project would have, the probability of ground instability, increased risk of landslides and increased water runoff towards lower lying areas and with that flooding, they proclaimed:

2. The structure they wanted to build was a necessity as it would act as a retaining wall that would prevent landslides in the area.

People in Baguio, and the rest of the Cordillera, know every well that vegetation, trees in particular, significantly help in soil stabilization and the argument that removing those 182 trees to allow their expansion plan would prevent landslides just did not, no pun intended, hold water. And that was just one of the many environmental impacts that the expansion project would have. There's also the possible increase in air pollution in the area when the air-purifying trees are removed. And so they said:

3. They're replacing the trees, full grown, mature pine trees, with a "Sky Garden" that would have the same greening effect as the forest. 

But an artificial garden can never replicate the benefits derived from a forest of full-grown pine trees. 

4. They're going to earth-ball the trees to preserve them and keep them alive.

And that was one of the biggest lies they ever said. 

On the night of April 9, despite the existence of a Temporary Environmental Protection Order, the killings began. Vigilant members of the movement have been holding vigil in the area for several nights already to guard the trees and the distinct sound of branches breaking and chainsaws began. I received the call towards midnight and when I arrived in the area, I found scene on Luneta Hill quite absurd: you could make out the silhouettes of dozens of personnel - security guards, construction workers, but the forest remain unlit. If they believed they weren't doing anything wrong, why do it under cover of darkness? 

More rallies followed, the cause by this time was already getting international attention, and then DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo offered to mediate between the two sides. At a conference room in Camp Crame, representatives from those two sides sat on opposite sides of a long table, with Robredo at the head:

On one side, I remember being with leaders of Cordillera Global Network led by its president, Glo Abaeo, Mike Bengwayan who was one of the first to raise the alarm bells and initiated the January 20 rally, our lawyers Chit Daytec-Yangot and Christopher Donaal, volunteer Mike Arvisu and others. 

And on the other side of the table: Hans Sy. Then Mayor Mauricio Domogan. Then Congressman Bernardo Vergara. Then DENR Secretary Ramon Paje and others. 

The seating arrangement wasn't random at all which made me wonder then which side Baguio's mayor and congressman were on in this. While our side of the table pleaded the case for the trees, the other side justified their murder. 

Much of SM's argument then revolved around the proposal to earth-ball the trees, transplant them to preserve them.

It was a stalemate, basically. But at least we won the right to be allowed to inspect their earth-balling method.     

The scene of the crime was ghastly, and that is not an exaggeration. Gaping holes have been dug around several trees, what remained of their roots bundled up in sacks. From the expansion site, we were led to the transplantation site on the other side of the hill where they have already started transplanted previously earth-balled trees. They were propped up by bamboos to keep them upright. 

And this is where we see that SM City Baguio lied and never gave those trees the slightest chance to survive: that site is now SM City Baguio's Sky Ranch, the transplanted earth-balled trees buried under the foundations of those carnival rides and other structures. 

The parking facility is now open, and photos of the "sky garden" are spreading all over social media sites - the artificial garden they claimed would replicate the environmental benefits that Baguio has been getting from the forest they removed. 

And now, SM has the gall to offer itself to redevelop the public market. 

They've bastardized the birthplace of Baguio as a hill station and a city, what would make anyone think that they would respect the city's public market's historical and cultural value?

The Mayor has announced that the city government has rejected Robinson's offer to redevelop the public market. 

Sana all.  

Tejeros Convention-esque petty politics and art

  

Having witnessed and at times when necessary participated in, and now looking back at the local politics in Baguio in the last 25 years, I can’t help but be reminded of something Robert R. Reed said in his book, City of Pines: The Origins of Baguio as a Colonial Hill Station and Regional Capital. The book focused mainly on the history of Baguio from the time it was discovered first by the Spaniards who were the first to dream of establishing a health and recreational center in the area to its early years as a city. In the part about the drafting of the charter of the city, Reed shared that the principal author, George Malcolm, wrote a constitution that aimed to shield Baguio from petty politics.

One of the mandates of the charter that I believe served this purpose was that Baguio’s mayors were appointed by the president and not elected. Though whether this actually served Baguio’s interests better as opposed to having them elected is of course arguable. But in an interview I had with the late Leony San Agustin, one of the famous “Three Witches of Baguio” (along with the late Gene de Guia and Cecile Afable), she did recall that the massive migration to Baguio from nearby provinces which resulted in rampant squatting on both public and private lands began when the mayoralty became an elective office which had politicians encouraging people from their hometowns to make residency in Baguio to amass votes.

The practice of appointing Baguio’s chief executive lasted until the 1950s. On March 1, 1960, the citizens of Baguio saw Luis L. Lardizabal assume office as their first duly-elected mayor. I cite this not as an endorsement of the less democratic process of having chief executives appointed, but merely to illustrate how petty politics, in its different forms, can render institutions inutile and unresponsive to the needs of the city.

And politics, whether petty, traditional, dirty or downright rotten permeates not only pubic service but many other areas of the community. Like art.

When I was approached early last year by Baguio Arts and Crafts Collective, Inc. (BACCI) Chairperson Adelaida Lim to initially be involved in the organization and eventually to spearhead the staging of the second Baguio Creative City Festival, I was apprehensive. I have heard of the confrontational nature of its meetings during its inception with stories of shouting matches between its founders which included both persons regarded as institutions themselves in the local art and culture scene and emerging culture bearers.

These scenarios aren’t new – it’s like a monster that keeps on rearing its ugly head at almost every attempt at organizing the creative community. I have seen this play out in many assemblies involving artists in the past, foremost of which would be the fateful meeting that forced the late Santiago Bose to quit as chair of the Baguio Arts Guild in 2002. Santiago Bose passed away later that year, and while medical records may state the cause of death in more scientific terms, I believe he died of a broken heart.

Before that tragic coup, there was that Tejeros Convention-esque assembly in the late 90’s that saw the dissolution of the then current set of officers and the establishment of an interim board of directors which was not honored and downrightly rejected by some of the former. I opted to walk and stay away from all that in 1997, just as I did in 2002.

In the years that followed, I, along with members of the theater group I founded, Open Space, created, produced and presented theatrical performances independently. And by independent I mean from institutions both governmental and private. And those were what I would consider the halcyon days of the group. In the decade that followed, Open Space staged at least two major productions every year, one for each semester as the academe was and still is the primary source of patronage for theater in Baguio. And those productions got patronage from outside the city which had the group travelling to nearby provinces and at times much farther as in the performance of the twin-bill “Tonyo/Pepe” in Daet, Camarines Norte. While we did get the occasional minor sponsorships from private corporations, we survived mainly from the measly gate receipts of those productions and the sacrifice of the artists themselves and their commitment to and faith in the craft as a valuable means of presenting relevant social and cultural issues. The makeshift theaters – multipurpose halls and auditoriums, gymnasiums, classrooms and in one instance all the way down in Tayug, Pangasinan, a shed – these became not only the venues for our stories, but our refuge, our sanctuary, our insulation from the pervasive petty politics that was eating into larger art organizations.

I still dream of a means to unify, unionize the artists of Baguio that would empower, protect and serve the interests of the sector and where issues affecting artists, individually and collectively, may be objectively presented, discussed and addressed and initiatives aren’t at the mercy of the powers-that-be’s fragile egos. To paraphrase Carly Simon, don't be so vain, it's not always about you. 

But despite the repeated setbacks experienced in the couple of decades, I still believe it’s possible.  

Or maybe I'm wrong. 

Some trees do stand taller than others, others prettier with more leaves and longer branches but we mustn’t lose sight of the forest - which canopy provides much less shade when partitioned and scattered in smaller patches.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For want of a breath of fresh air

Based on his own pronouncements, justifications, statements, I'm trying to put myself in the Mayor's shoes. 

Although non-essential (i.e. leisure) inter-city travel is essentially still not allowed, with just a bit of a stretch, bringing his wife up to Baguio for some breath of fresh air could be justified as essential. It would definitely do her, having just beaten cancer, a lot of good after being holed up for the past few months in their house in San Juan. The summer heat may have been too much lately, despite their home's air-conditioning. 

So it's set, they're coming up to Baguio. Who's coming? The escorts. How many persons? 5? Alright. That's 5, plus the Mayor and his wife and their driver - 8. So who were the other 10? They would need to fix up the house here in Baguio, one or two helpers? Or maybe three? Who were the other 7? What was their reason for travelling? Unless, other than the five escorts, the mayor and his wife, were all helpers/employees brought up here to work on the house preparations - 11 persons, total, and all booked at the Baguio Country Club?   

Anyway, six cars and perhaps about 4 hours later, the convoy of 18 started climbing up Kennon Road. Wait, backtrack a little - was just wondering if there were checkpoints between San Juan and Quezon City, and then the entry point to NLEX, and then in Binalonan, Pangasinan or Rosario, La Union, and what happened there. 

Back tracking a bit farther - I'm sure they looked up the situation up in Baguio before deciding. Zamora would have known of the protocols in place. He would have relayed the same information to everyone in the entourage, including his escorts. He should have. He would have. He may have. We don't know for sure.  

Was there a meeting of some sort before heading out of San Juan? Given the circumstances, they should have been one, if only to at least remind everyone in the entourage that essentially, this particular trip isn't allowed, could be problematic because, well, the whole world is battling a pandemic. There will be checkpoints, they would need to present papers, authority to travel, health clearances, etc. It may not be the way things are in San Juan, but that's how it is in Baguio. 

He would have known that things were different in Baguio. The current Mayor, a retired general, has been known to be no non-sense kind of guy, one who walks the talk, one whose handling of the quarantine protocols and mitigation efforts have been earning praises all over. He must have also heard of the discipline that majority of the Baguio's citizens have shown.

I'm always the designated driver when traveling to and from Manila, so I hardly remember being in the backseat after four or five hours on the road and climbing up Kennon Road. But I understand if he were asleep - my wife and kids usually are. I've always had to stop for an extra cup of strong coffee at any one of the gas stations in Rosario just to get me through the last hour or so of driving. So if I were in the backseat of a car traveling to Baguio from Manila, I would probably be, or still be asleep by the time we get to Kennon Road.  

BUT... here's the big but - these are special times, special circumstances. Unless all that only applies to mere mortals and not to politicians. 

So, if I were in his shoes, as a responsible citizen and a Mayor, I would have:

1. Reiterated, over and over again, to everyone with me that just because I'm a Mayor does not exempt me, and the rest of us, from the law.

2. Out of respect for the citizens of Baguio and their Mayor and everything they stood and worked hard for, I would abide by the protocols that's been set for non-residents entering the city, considering that we're essentially tourists and the city is still closed to tourists.

3. Made sure I stayed awake, or at least woke up every time the convoy approached a checkpoint, and particularly the one at the entrance to Baguio, because as a Mayor, I would have known that I would need to be checked, processed, triaged before being allowed entry (with No. 2 above in mind).

He said he was asleep and had no idea that his police escorts did what they did - ignore the checkpoint and everything that checkpoint stood for. 

So when they got to Rosario, nobody tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Sir, Rosario na po tayo..." ? Or maybe halfway up Kennon Road? "Sir, malapit na po tayo sa checkpoint ng Baguio." Nobody? Not one of the other 17 in any one of those six cars? Let's say nobody did, doesn't that just seem to tell us that there was no explicit instruction from the top man in that group, the Mayor, to strictly follow protocols, rules, the law (!) that at least made somebody think, "malapit na tayo sa Baguio, sabi ni Sir, kailangan nating sumunod at kailangan tayong i-triage at pumirma ng mga papeles sa checkpoint, gisingin ko na siya" ?

And if there were clear instructions from him to respect Baguio's quarantine protocols, and still it was ignored, ang lakas naman ng loob ng police escort na yun to disobey a direct order from the VIP he's escorting. Even if they did go against what the Mayor would've wanted them to do, granting he did intend to follow protocols, out of their own sense of entitlement, and deserved the consequences of their actions, command responsibility still does not absolve the Mayor, who was (again!) travelling against IATF-set rules.

And if they're taking the blame for all this, out of a sense of loyalty to the Mayor, or whatever other considerations, and are now jobless, then I feel really sorry for them.   

 

Just as I felt sorry for those policemen at the Kennon Road checkpoint - they have stopped hundreds, if not thousands before Zamora at that same spot. Because they had a job to do - keep the city and its citizens safe. They've stood there at the front lines for months. They've heard all the possible alibis, and they've stood their ground. Because it's their job, it's their responsibility. They've must have turned down a senior citizen begging to be let through, a mother or father whose quarantine pass did not show the correct day of the week, perhaps a worker who didn't have all the necessary papers. They must have even known some of these people personally - a neighbor, an old classmate, but rules are rules, they wouldn't want to be the ones to put to waste all the efforts that everyone have been putting into keeping the city safe and mitigating the impact of a deadly pandemic. I wonder how they felt when they flagged down the oncoming vehicle and were ignored? 

Our own Mayor has asked us not to jump to conclusions, until we have all the facts.  We have these facts right now: 

1. He was travelling against IATF rules. Undeniably.

 

2. Save for his escorts, perhaps, all the rest in his entourage were travelling against IATF rules, and he, and his position, allowed it. Nay, enabled it. Undeniably.  

3. He did not, on his own, cause the convoy to make a U-turn, at whatever point he woke up, and correct the mistake allegedly by his police escorts without his knowledge. Even if he only woke up right at the entrance of the Baguio Country Club, the facility's personnel shouldn't have needed to be the ones to inform them of their transgression. When he woke up at the Baguio Country Club, granting he only woke up at the last possible minute before the club personnel engaged them, he knew they didn't have papers to show that they went through all the proper protocols, which he's supposed to know were required. He should have immediately ordered his escorts and the rest of the entourage to return to the checkpoint. This did not happen. Undeniably.  

We're also told that there was no arrogance on the part of the Mayor Zamora. The fact that he made the trip at all, and with 17 other people too, who probably wouldn't have dared to do so if they weren't doing it with a Mayor, knowing fully well that such trips are still prohibited, seems to me to be an act of arrogance.

"Where's your heart? His wife is recuperating from cancer, and just wanted a breath of fresh air?"

We, too, want a break from all this. 

Many of us have ailing loved ones too that we would like to give some comfort to, and in the case of those who are currently separated from us, that we would like to be there for.

Many of us aren't even asking to be allowed to travel in a convoy of six cars with a police escort to be able to check into a country club. Many of us just want to be able to take a walk in the park, or take a walk at all.  

But many of us would not dare drive past a checkpoint - the image of the veteran being shot in broad daylight is still fresh in our minds. Many of us don't even dare go to the market outside of our allowed schedule. And if ever some of us dared, or even unwittingly break any one of the many rules imposed on us these days, it would be nice to have a Mayor have our back, to tell the police who would place cuffs on our wrists, not to jump to conclusions, to have some compassion and just let it pass. Yes, that would be nice. 

In a June 7, 2020 Manila Bulletin news report on the recent lockdown imposed on San Vicente Barangay in Baguio City, the Mayor was quoted as saying:

“Hindi nagsusuot ng mask. Pakalat-kalat sila sa kalsada. Wala silang pakialam, nag-iinuman, walang kontrol sa mga bata (They don’t wear masks. They loiter in the streets. They seem not to care, they drink. They have no control of their children)."

And for days, these were prohibited from leaving their barangay for whatever reason: buy food, medicines, any other essentials. They did not protest, they did not appeal their case, they did not do anything except accept the consequences of the actions of some of their neighbors for I'm sure there were residents of San Vicente who wore masks all the time when they were outside their homes, who did not loiter, who cared, who didn't engage in social drinking, who took care of their children and made sure they didn't roam around the neighborhood. But even those people did not protest the lockdown, which the Mayor did not hesitate to order. That's the kind of leadership, of political will, that we've been seeing, been admiring, been inspired by... and then Mayor Zamora showed up.

See, we, too, all of us, just like Mayor Zamora, his wife, his companions, are in dire need of a breath of fresh air. But what we're getting right now is the foul stench of a corrupt political system, where impunity, inequality... social injustice, reign. 

     

   

            

 

   

      

Betrayal of public trust

The following is the covering letter for the petition calling for the declaration of The Hon(?). Fancis Zamora, Mayor of San Juan City as Persona Non Grata, that I sent to the Baguio City Council...  

SANGGUNIANG PANLUNGSOD BAGUIO 
thru THE HON. FAUSTINO A. OLOWAN 
Vice Mayor and Presiding Officer 


Cc: 

THE HON. BENJAMIN B. MAGALONG, Mayor, Baguio City 
THE HON. BETTY LOURDES F. TABANDA, Councilor, Laws, Human Right and Justice 
THE HON. ISABELO B. COSALAN, JR., Councilor, Ethics, Gov. Affairs and Personnel 
THE HON. FRANCISCO ROBERTO A. ORTEGA VI, Councilor, Public Protection and Safety 

In view of and response to the incident involving Mr. Francis Zamora, Mayor of San Juan City, M.M., who entered the City of Baguio on June 5, 2020 during which, as has been established, he, along with his entourage broke not only the COVID-19 IATF guidelines on non-work travel under GCQ but also Baguio’s own quarantine protocols, an online petition was started calling for the declaration of Mr. Zamora as persona non grata in the City of Baguio. 

For more than two months now, the city, together with its immediate neighbors in the LISTT area, has been under very strict quarantine protocols which majority of the citizenry dutifully, responsibly and respectfully obeyed. Because of this, the city, and with it its leaders, have earned praises for its remarkable achievements in our collective efforts to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the city. In the last couple of months, we have been witness to the inspiring display of discipline and community spirit by the Ibagiw, the citizens of Baguio. 

We have many of our fellow Ibagiws who have remained stranded in various areas outside the city who continue to voluntarily remain away from home and their loved ones in order to conform to the city’s GCQ protocols. And as to our very own citizens who need to either re-enter or exit Baguio, they dutifully line up at various government offices for hours on end to ensure that they are following all rules and regulations established by the government, submitting themselves to all procedures and securing all the necessary paperwork and clearances required for such purpose. We’ve had to endure total lockdowns in various barangays due to reported non-compliance to quarantine rules and procedures, and such harsh repercussions have been humbly accepted and adhered to by the citizenry. 

These are just a few examples of our own people’s sacrifices, and in short, we, citizens of Baguio, out of our own sense of responsibility and good citizenship, and inspired by the kind of leadership that many of our elected officials have shown during this calamity to achieve our shared purpose of keeping the citizens of Baguio as safe as possible, have made great contributions and continue to do so to achieve that collective goal. 

With that, and the fact that scores of our own citizens have been arrested for various, some even lesser, quarantine rules violations, we cannot let the incident involving the Mayor of San Juan City be swept under the rug for not only is it an insult to all the sacrifices that the community has made, or calls into question the credibility that our local government has worked so hard to earn not only locally but from the entire country, but more importantly, his action sets a very dangerous precedent, is a mockery of our collective efforts and leaving it unaddressed encourages injustice and inequality. So, on behalf of the signatories, I hereby submit the initial result of our online petition (http://chng.it/8h26rQZm) to declare Mr. Fancis Zamora, Mayor of San Juan City as persona non grata in the City of Baguio, which in just 24 hours and as of this writing, have garnered over 10,000 signatures. 

In our collective effort to protect the health, well-being, dignity and honor of the people of Baguio, I shall remain, 

Yours sincerely,

Naming names, connecting the dots, I know, you know

Standing in the middle of Remedios Circle in Malate back in 1995, I wasn't ready when the Barangay Captain asked us, the late RJ Leyran and I, what the name of our organization was, a requirement for our permit to use the roundabout as the venue for JC - Live!, the music of Andrew Lloyd Weber's Jesus Christ Superstar, a concert for a cause. 

   

Around me - Cafe Adriatico, the then relatively newly opened and overly brightly lit Racks, Guernica's, and of course, Penguin Cafe where the idea and plan for the project at hand then was hatched, and beyond that, the row of shanties including a few holes in the wall offering tapsi meals, mami and cheaper beer. This was my de facto home then. 

And right there in the middle of the rotunda, an elevated round concrete platform which in the afternoons is the arena where imaginary battles between superheroes and villains were reenacted by children from the neighborhood, and at night turns into a hunting ground for carnal and other illicit needs, and later in the night, sleeping quarters for the homeless or for those who do have homes nearby but are lured by the cool breeze coming from Manila Bay which blows directly towards that platform. 

There is that sweet spot between the hunting ground hours when deals have already been made and the players have gone to consummate the deal, and before the sleepers come, usually around midnight to 2:00 AM when suddenly the rotonda would be almost empty, save for a few stragglers. That's when I'd usually find myself there to smoke a lonely cigarette. 

Anyway, looking around at the open air performance area before me, I said "Open Space Productions."

I collaborated almost exclusively then with Joel, whose bedroom was our workshop. He named the room "Hell's Kitchen."

In Hell's Kitchen a few nights later, Joel and I worked on a logo for Open Space - he came up with a simple design with just the text (the O in open and E in space slightly bigger than the rest serving as prosceniums that framed the name) and a symbol I asked for, the Infinity symbol. 

Back in Penguin, RJ and I continued to work on the production meeting with various artists we wanted to feature - Jet Melencio, Raul Roxas, Rina Reyes, Lolita Carbon, Waling-waling,  a youth symphony orchestra. During nights in Penguin, aside from my lonely cigarette at the rotonda, another memorable, and often poignant, moment would be my trips to the bathroom after I've had one drink too many, and I have a silent conversation with a framed illustration of a conversation with a guy named Zeke about hedonism, and another framed work called "Bacchus Asleep."

Soon after that production, I found myself falling in love with Baguio, although it would take me and RL another year before finally packing all our belongings and moving here (back here, for her), where Open Space would eventually take root and blossom. 

In my first couple of years, aside from the productions, I conducted a lot of acting workshops for various groups and individuals, mostly students. I remember being obsessed with the idea of transcending the Fourth Wall of the theater at the time, a result of the monologues RL and I have been staging/performing, and most of my lectures on acting revolved around that.

After an attempt at a restaurant and a desktop publishing shop, and after the birth of our first son, RL and I opened a gallery at the 3rd floor of Dali Building in Guisad in 2000. We appropriated the name that my mother used for her series of workshops for underprivileged children back in the 80s which I also attended, which I thought perfectly captured what Rl and I have been doing, surviving, creatively and we called the gallery The Workshop for Creative Survival. It ran for a few months, until other callings, along with the then unprofitability of stand alone art galleries, made us decide to close it up and move on. 

We ventured into other forms of creative expression and production - so in addition to theater, we learned about graphics, photography, videography, I started exploring musical compositions, writing columns for local newspapers, and got into media and multimedia production. We informally called all that Altomonte Multimedia.        

Looking back at the last 25 years, a word cloud forms in my head - 

 

 

With these words, I know, you know.  

         

Throwing lines watching the walking man walk (kitakits sa dulo)

I pine for the stage - to be on it, in front of it, behind it, at the wings, in the booth. Throwing lines, memorizing lines, blocking, running through, dress rehearsing. It's a bad time to be a theater artist. The very essence of theater is human interactivity, and in the time of physical distancing, it would almost be impossible for theater to thrive.   

Everyday, lines from plays past play in my head, and this morning it's from The Artist, the final monologue in the series by Eric Bogosian - 

"They call that "being responsible," man. Everybody's scared, man -

they're afraid they don't do what they're supposed to do - BANG - they're homeless. 

That's what the homeless people are, man. 

They're the warning to all of us, "Stay in your cage, don't rock the boat."

It resonates stronger these days, at a time when expressing your frustrations, fears and anxieties may be deemed as boat-rocking. Unless it's blowing smoke up someone's ass, then your opinions and you are fine. Because it doesn't matter if you actually have the P50 million to pay an assassin, or even meant to hire an assassin at all, whether you wanted it or wished it, or if it's not even about that at all but more about your feeling of helplessness and desperation facing a fearful present and an uncertain tomorrow, or if your concern is about the more vulnerable and displaced not being given a fighting chance, or even totally left out of a system designed to favor those who are already in much better positions, "stay in your cage, don't rock the boat." 

A man is walking down the road in front of our house, I'm on the balcony having a cigarette and coffee. It's only the second week of the Enhanced Community Quarantine. I know that look on his face. I know what that heavy gait means. The small reusable bag could not have any more than a couple of kilos of rice, a couple of cans of sardines, a small bundle or two of vegetables, another kilo of bulilit, maybe, yet the weight on this shoulders, in his heart... that time when the stash of coins in cans and found in pockets of jeans in the laundry is the source of funding for the day's food on the table, looking at the array of fish at the market, you choose the kilo that offers the most meat, not the tastiest, having to save up for a mere weekend McDonald's treat for the children, check out exhibit opening schedules and time rehearsals just before then so the cast would have some refreshments after, move house every three months or just after using up the usual two months advance one month deposit requirement give or take an extra month or two... so yeah, I know that look on his face, I had it and on occasion, have it. And during those times, a little boost, no matter how little, matters so much, just the news that the Mayor wanted to engage artists in a meeting to discuss ways to help those in this sector who are in need, and that few hundred care packages have been made available by the Mayor's office.     

 

A lot of artists have that look on their faces, and many of one person's essentials are luxuries for them - like social media presence. I tried to speak for them, and back to that boat, the ones who aren't on it and are treading water, and offered to help reach, at least to the best of our capability, those who weren't within earshot of Facebook or could navigate their way around online forms or could not make their way to City Hall or into Baguio at all, and the boat rocked. I didn't think someone whose not aboard, treading water, could cause the boat to rock, but apparently it did.  

Here's another line from the musical Rent, spoken: 

An aging, sickly yet still rocking bassist living in his humble unlisted abode beyond the city limits. The single mother who makes a living off of tourists in search of Instagramable coffee mugs with ethnic trimmings who happen to live on the wrong side of a police tape that defines an area in total lock down. The visual storyteller who classified himself unqualified for some relief because he's not tech savvy enough. The carvers and weavers who didn't even know there was such relief available. The group of mothers in a mining community down in Itogon who could hardly sell their woven tapestries pre-Covid19 who are isolated, displaced. They were the ones I thought needed those care packages way more than those who are online, could navigate their way through online forms, swing by City Hall sooner before the packs ran out.   

I do apologize if my sentiments caused an uncomfortable sway. The fact is, today, I may be one of the more fortunate ones who could somehow weather this storm better than others (though that way it's dragging on puts the sustainability of that fact in question), but I've been there, and still find myself there from time to time. I know how and have actually had to be creative enough to make that one can of sardines or meatloaf be enough for a family of seven.  

But beyond that, what we, that's myself and my family who took turns delivering those care packages to as many displaced artists as we could, learned and realized was this: what was more valuable to the recipients than the actual contents of the bag was knowing that in these trying times, someone had them in mind, that they mattered.      

A role I've performed the most number of times, Jose Rizal, in Malou Jacob's monologue, Pepe, says: 

"Malinis at walang bahid dungis ang kailangang maging alay 

upang ang handog ay maging karapat-dapat"  

Now I am reminded of the matinees in gymnasiums filled to the rafters with children laughing their heads off in the first half and the teachers with tears in their eyes in the end. 

It will take a long time before we could perform in front of an audience again. That's the curse of the theater artist in the time of a pandemic. Just my luck, after years of absence in the local theater scene, this was the year I decided to return.  

I was particularly looking forward, after having resigned as consultant to the city's creative desk and as a member of the creative council, to be part of this year's Ibagiw as a participant. While it was an honor to direct last year's, but that meant not being able to exhibit or perform as an artist. 

The festival would have to be restructured, of course, due to the current circumstances, but I was surprised and saddened by the information I received that the title, Ibagiw, will be dropped by the Council for Baguio Creative City, along with the theme that was approved prior to my resignation. Essentially because it came from me. It would have been better to be told that the change in the title of the festival was because Ibagiw was not a good one, inappropriate, or because the incoming director/s has/have come up with a much better one (that shouldn't be difficult, really). This kind of mirrors our dysfunctional political system that places self-serving interests above those of the constituency - throw a predecessor's initiatives into the garbage can, doesn't matter whether it's good or bad, just because it was a political opponent's initiative.  

Recently, the daughter, Kathy, of one of the greatest actors and indeed persons I've ever known, Jose Mari Avellana, posted photos from a production I was fortunate to be part of in 1989, which reminded me of one of my favorite monologues from a play. The following are excerpts from another monologue from Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac:

What would you have me do?

Find a powerful protector: and choose a patron,

like the dark ivy that creeps round a tree-trunk,

and gains its support by licking at its length,

to climb by a ruse instead of rise by strength?

No, thank you! 

Dedicate, as others do

my poetry to bankers? Become a buffoon

in the base hope of seeing a less than sinister

smile quiver on the lips of some Minister?

No, thank you! 

Dine each day on a toad?

Own a belly worn out with crawling? Show

a skin that’s dirtied quicker than my knees,

and with a supple spine do tricks to please?

No, thank you! 

...Try to get myself named the high Pope of councils

held in the taverns by imbecilic scoundrels?

No, thank you! 

...Not be terrorized by the morning papers?

Not say endlessly: ‘Oh, could I but see

myself in small print in the ‘Mercury’!’

No thank you! 

Calculate, show fear, grow pallid,

prefer to make a visit than a ballad?

Get myself presented, write petitions to the king?

No, thank you! No, thank you! No, thank you! 

When I accepted the responsibility to direct Ibagiw, I did not think I was entering a pageant. 

Pageant contestants could be vicious.  

Much could be said about my performance as creative director of the festival and the festival itself, I cannot do anything about that. But I take comfort in the memory of what we experienced during those months of preparations and those nine days  - the gratitude for being given the opportunity to tell a story and acknowledgment of the importance of art in a society, the sincerity and purity of most everyone's intentions, and most beautifully, the sense of community among the participants and the trust and respect for each other that came with it. 

It's yours, Ibagiw, I was told. I beg to disagree. It belongs to the community. 

The word may be deleted from the upcoming posters, streamers, press releases, budget, etc., but the spirit would live on. It must live on. It will. 

The second half of Cyrano's monologue:    

But...to sing,

to dream, to smile, to walk, to be alone, be free,

with a voice that stirs, and an eye that still can see!

To cock your hat on one side, when you please

at a yes, a no, to fight, or – make poetry!

To work without a thought of fame or fortune,

on that journey, that you dream of, to the moon!

Never to write a line that’s not your own,

and, humble too, say to oneself: My son,

be satisfied with flowers, fruit, even leaves,

if they’re from your own garden, your own trees!

And then should chance a little glory bring,

don’t feel you need to render Caesar a thing,

but keep the merit to yourself, entirely

in short, don’t deign to be the parasitic ivy,

even though you’re not the oak tree or the elm,

rise not so high, maybe, but be there all alone!  

It's the first Monday tomorrow as Baguio transitions to slightly less restrictive directives to keep the city safer. A lot of us would be able to leave our houses and go to town. Some of us would know exactly where to go and what to do, others, not really. A lot of us would be walking up or down Session Road just like the way that man did in front of our house that day - with a bagful of essentials and the weight of the world on his shoulders and in his heart. 

Keep treading, stay alive, get through this. And when we do, kitakits sa dulo. We've got stories to tell. 

 

 

Sino-sino nga ba ang mga kasama sa Creative Sector?

This is where the city's private sector partners or NGOs are needed, and since the Baguio Arts and Crafts Collective, Inc. (BACCI) does not have a formal membership system, and no other organization currently engages the whole creative community as a whole, the need for an actual list of local artists, artisans, cultural workers and organizations could be drafted. This would be the proper take off point for initiatives to reach out to the sector, especially in times like this.

CBCC recently started working on something like this, albeit limited to reaching out on social media, which may not provide us with a comprehensive list.

Sources of data with regards to individuals and groups that could be included in the initial list of members:

- Participants in Entacool (2018)
- Participants in Ibagiw (2019)

- Participants in Apunan (2019)
- Members of each of the known creative organizations
- Attendance sheets for all the general assemblies held since BACCI’s establishment

If the establishment of yet another institution that would directly respond to and protect the welfare of local artists and artisans seem unrealistic right now, either:

1. The CBCC could step in as the overall umbrella organization
2. BACCI may be deputized and requested to abandon its policy of a loose membership system in favor of a more formal and defined one.
3. The CBCC could create a special task force for this purpose.

After the initial list has been drafted, persons and groups in the list may be notified either by email or mobile phone, depending on the available contact information, and through this they could confirm their inclusion in the list.

The basic information needed may be:

1. Name
2. Field of expertise
3. Location / address
4. Contact information (Email, Mobile Number)

Though we may have to surrender to the fact that the present circumstances may prevent us from having a thoroughly comprehensive list, extra effort must be exerted to ensure that as many of the city's creatives get to be included in it, which may even entail some legwork, of course done in the safest possible way without endangering the welfare of those on the ground. At least, those who have taken an active participation in various art and cultural events in the last three years must included. The above suggested initial sources of data should be a good starting point for this.

Let us at least exert as much effort in knowing our beneficiaries as we do in soliciting funds for relief efforts.

For if the list is compiled only through the most convenient means at the moment - social media, primarily -  we may be leaving out those who may need assistance the most.  

Point 1: Immediate Considerations for Baguio's Creative Community

In my original presentation, I forwarded the following:

  IMMEDIATE CONSIDERATIONS

1.       Identifying individuals and groups that belong to the sector

2.     Granting creatives access to services and businesses that would allow them to continue practicing their respective professions under the current circumstances, and while strictly following physical distancing and other mitigation policies, such as, but not limited to:

a)      Art supply stores

b)      Music stores

c)       Computer shops

d)      Crafts suppliers/stores

The first item, determining our constituency, is necessary before we proceed, and for this to be done properly, we need to go beyond social media.

As for the second item, while we are still in the process of identifying the members of the creative sector, there are initiatives that the LGU could already execute that would have an immediately have an impact on artists and artisans who wish to be productive even while in quarantine such as granting them access to services and supplies necessary for them to do so. Much like the way auto supply shops and hardware stores were given the privilege, certain arts and crafts supply stores and allied creative services may be allowed to operate on certain days for this purpose.

• VISUAL ARTISTS/ARTISANS/CRAFT MAKERS: Art Supply Stores for canvasses, paints, brushes, basic crafting tools and supplies such as knitting/crocheting supplies, etc.; Framing Services.
• MUSICIANS: Music Stores such as Musar, Musicworld, etc. for basic consumable needs like guitar strings, rosin for violins, reeds for woodwinds, etc. and certain basic equipment such as microphones, keyboard pedals, etc.
• PHOTOGRAPHERS AND OTHER DIGITAL ARTISTS: Computer and other digital/electronics shops for consumables such as printer ink, accessories and services such as computer/gadget repair, etc. 

The above are just some examples, and those in other fields of creative expression who are currently rendered unproductive but may be able to do some work if only they had access to supplies and services.

In addition, the issue of creatives who may be in dire need of immediate relief was brought up. I did comment that we really do need that database of individuals and groups that belong to our sector first. But since that might take some time to complete, we could provide a way for us to identify and reach out to artists and artisans who are in more distress and need immediate relief...

...and vice-versa, an office much like the Creative Desk that has now, to my understanding, been basically replaced/superseded by the secretariat of the CBCC, or perhaps a task force created specifically for this purpose that artists and artisans can go to, call or communicate with to request for assistance.

And since resources are limited, and we in the creative industry cannot expect to be given special attention by the government over other sectors of the community for in this once in several lifetimes situation, we are all in distress, we cannot expect to be able to provide monetary or relief goods or any other form of assistance to EVERYBODY. Thus, we must be able to come up with a system that could determine who among us needs such assistance more, and in what form.

I am sure that the council would be working on coming up with such system/process, but we can all contribute ideas and may share these with them for consideration.     

To the Council for Baguio Creative City

I would have missed the announcement for an Engagement Meeting between local artists and Mayor Benjamin Magalong which was held today, if not for a friend who forwarded the invitation she received. This I believe highlights the limitations of social media as the main means of reaching out to the community - which is not to say that it's entirely not effective, but each individual's news feed is tailor made by Facebook based on that person's preferences, and it's not impossible for important messages such as this one to be missed. And there are many in our sector that are not on social media, or the internet at all, and they may be among the ones that need immediate relief more than those of us who actually have the means - gadgets, mobile data or home internet connections - to be online.    

Back to the meeting, as someone who lives in the outskirts of Baguio's city limits, it's a bit more difficult for us to go out and we weren't sure if we could make it to the meeting. So I wrote a few recommendations and emailed it to the Mayor and the Council for Baguio Creative City, in case I didn't get to go. Below are those recommendations that I hope could somehow be of help to the city government, particularly the CBCC, as they try to come up with ideas for initiatives that would address the needs of the creative sector during this time, and more importantly, when we all come out of this and begin the healing and recovery process.  

April 25, 2020

THE COUNCIL FOR BAGUIO CREATIVE CITY

thru

MS. ADELAIDA LIM, Chair and

THE HON. BENJAMIN B. MAGALONG, co-chair

I hereby humbly submit some recommendations that may help address the needs of the creative sector both immediate and in the near future.

I.                    IMMEDIATE CONSIDERATIONS

1.       Identifying individuals and groups that belong to the sector

2.     Granting creatives access to services and businesses that would allow them to continue practicing their respective professions under the current circumstances, and while strictly following physical distancing and other mitigation policies, such as, but not limited to:

a)      Art supply stores

b)      Music stores

c)       Computer shops

d)      Crafts suppliers/stores

II.               IDENTIFYING MEMBERS OF THE SECTOR

This is where NGOs are needed, and since the Baguio Arts and Crafts Collective, Inc. (BACCI) does not have a formal membership system, and no other organization currently engages the whole creative community at large, the need for an actual list of local artists, artisans, cultural workers and organizations could be drafted. This would be the proper take off point for initiatives to reach out to the sector, especially in times like this.

CBCC recently started working on something like this, albeit limited to reaching out on social media, which may not provide us with a comprehensive list.

Sources of data with regards to individuals and groups that could be included in the initial list of members:

 -          Participants in Entacool

-          Participants in Ibagiw

-          Members of each of the known creative organizations

-          Attendance sheets for all the general assemblies held since BACCI’s establishment

If the establishment of yet another institution that would directly respond to and protect the welfare of local artists and artisans seem unrealistic right now, either:

1.       The CBCC could step in as the overall umbrella organization

2.       BACCI may be deputized and requested to abandon its policy of a loose membership system in favor of a more formal and defined one.

3.     The CBCC could create a special task force for this purpose, which could later be developed into a full-fledged Creative Industry Equity.

After the initial list has been drafted, persons and groups in the list may be notified either by email or mobile phone, depending on the available contact information, and through this they could confirm their inclusion in the list.

The basic information needed may be:

1.       Name

2.       Field of expertise/industry

3.       Location / address

4.       Contact information (Email, Mobile Number) 

III.           FUND SOURCING – INITIAL SOURCES

A minimal membership fee may be collected, although during this time, not from the members themselves. Perhaps the CBCC could forward a resolution endorsing the sponsorship of artists’ membership fees taking it from the city’s allotted budget for art and culture since given the current circumstances, we don’t see any major artistic or cultural events in terms of exhibitions and performances being staged in the coming months that the city would need to provide major funding for, probably even for the rest of the year.

For example, a membership fee of P300 per person multiplied by 1,500 individuals would total P450,000.00. Institutions, organizations and organizations could have a higher membership fee of P1,000, half of which could be subsidized by the LGU.

This enables us not only to access available funds already earmarked for the creative sector, but utilize such for efforts that are more sustainable than mere direct payouts or dole outs or distribution of relief packs and have a more significant impact in the lives of displaced artists and artisans.

IV.             IDENTIFYING BENEFICIARIES & DETERMINING PROJECTS

Most artists and artisans already are in a struggle to make ends meet, with or without the further displacement brought about by the current crisis. Identifying the beneficiaries to be prioritized would be a challenge. Some points for consideration:

1.       CREATIVE IN BLISTT AND THE REST OF THE CORDILLERAS - The last two festivals engaged artists and artisans who practice their profession outside of Baguio. But since we acknowledge that much of Baguio’s cultural and creative eco-system involve artists, artisans and other cultural workers from its immediate neighboring municipalities and the rest of the Cordilleras, they must be included for consideration. 

2.       A SYSTEM THAT WOULD DETERMINE SUB-SECTORS/INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE MORE VULNERABLE – Some of us are struggling, some of us would be able to weather this crisis. Some of us are can immediately resume work, some of us would be displaced for a much longer time even after the ECQ is lifted. Some of the more vulnerable sub-sectors may include, but not limited to:

a)      Artists who are senior citizens or with disabilities

b)      Performing Artists - particularly groups such as bands, dance troupes and theater groups, etc. who, by the very nature of their field of expertise, need audiences. That would not be possible in the near foreseeable future.

3.      THE ACTUAL BENEFITS NEED NOT BE PROVIDED BY THE COUNCIL/TASK FORCE ITSELF -   What it could focus on is to function as a bridge between its members and institutions who are already mandated and in a position to provide relief efforts.   

For example, Mr. Alex Ognayon, 2^nd place winner in the Ibagiw Woodcarving Competition, spends much of his time in Hungduan, Ifugao but his wife and children are here in Baguio. He’s been calling for the past few weeks, mainly to ask if there was any relief efforts being done for artisans like him, and for assistance for his wife to be included in the list of SAP beneficiaries. He shared that while his wife, who lives in Asin Road, Baguio City, submitted the necessary documents required by their barangay, for some reason she was not included in the list of approved beneficiaries.

The council/umbrella organization/union could help engage barangays and other LGUs and agencies to enable its members to access government relief efforts and subsidies already in place.    

V.               TAKING IT A STEP FURTHER – A CREATIVE INDUSTRY EQUITY TO STRENGHTEN THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY DURING ITS RECOVERY

The current crisis has brought to the fore the lack of institutionalized sustainable support systems for the creative sector, and this is three years into being designated as a creative city by UNESCO. With regards to this, we must really go beyond staging events such as the Baguio Creative City Festival.

While the current social distancing measures in place prevent us from working full time, if at all, it also gives us much time to work on a structure that would benefit the sector not just in the time of Covid-19, but in years to come.

With this, I recommend the establishment and institutionalization of a Creative Industry Equity that would have the functions of both a collective and some form of union that protects and advocates artists and artisans’ welfare that would:

-          Professionalize the industry further.

-          Provide for opportunities for its members.

-          Protect local artists and artisans from market saturation brought about by artworks, products, services and the like brought into the city by non-residents.

For example, for theater artists, most schools in Baguio are able to require their students to patronize one theatrical production per semester, or two productions per year. Sadly, given the city’s inclination to discriminate against its own, whenever a local production is pitted against one from Manila, more often than not the schools tend to choose to send their students to the latter, displacing local artists. An equity system may be put in place, perhaps through the initiative of CBCC and to be implemented by a partner NGO, institutionalized by an ordinance, which would oblige the visiting production to contribute part of their revenues to the Creative Industry Equity. The same concept could be applied to visiting visual artists exhibiting in Baguio, visiting musical artists staging concerts in Baguio, etc. 

And for local artists and artisans to benefit from this equity system, they must be bona fide and card carrying members of the Creative Industry Equity.

In our shared resolve to help the creative community cope with the current crisis and make a speedy recovery, I shall remain,

Yours sincerely,

KARLO MARKO ALTOMONTE

Artist

I did make it to the meeting, by the way, and in the exchange this morning, more great ideas were floated that I would be sharing in a succeeding post. 

Life interrupted

So where were you when the Covid-19 threat got real?

March 2020, Thursday, the announcement was made that Metro Manila would most probably be put on lockdown. My first thought was how to get the whole family together under one roof. Our three children live with us in  Baguio, but the two elder ones are in Metro Manila - the eldest in Makati and his younger sibling in Las Pinas.

We agreed to meet at my aunt's place in Malolos, Bulacan the following day, Friday the 13th of March.

With the planned lockdown merely a couple of days away, details were still murky, and aside from the virus itself, I worried about how the Enhanced Community Quarantine was going to be implemented by the government. This was a first, and nobody was an expert on this, I expected it to be chaotic especially during the first few days.

In Baguio, we still weren't sure if the city would be closed down, or at least how that would be done.

The next morning, feeling like we're in some thriller movie scene wherein we had to execute an extraction of persons in distress, RL, daughter Gabriela and I made our way to Bulacan. Both Marko and Sofia still had to attend to some work - the former's a content producer for a media outfit, and the latter's a pre-school teacher. The threat of COVID-19, the virus that causes severe respiratory issues with quite a high fatality rate, has been in the news for a few weeks already, but somehow it felt like it wouldn't reach our shores. The president himself downplaying the possibility of entry of the virus in our country, as well as if ever it did, that it was nothing to worry about, did nothing to help prepare any of us to go as far as being forced to stay indoors for weeks, and everyone was caught by surprise by this latest development.

Photo courtesy of Brenda Villanueva, OSHARE Baguio

The last gathering I attended that involved quite a number of people was the forum organized by the Council for Baguio Creative City on February 4, 2020. And even as early as then, people were already talking about this virus that's wreaking havoc in Wuhan, China. At around this time, while other countries have instituted travel bans particularly those originating from Wuhan and the rest of China to protect their respective citizens, our president and his health secretary still continued to pander to China, very careful not to hurt that government's feelings, at the risk of putting Filipino lives at more risk. Flights continued to come in from China. At this gathering, although some of the attendees joked about no-handshakes, no-hugs, no-kisses, there were already a handful who seriously declined to shake hands, hug, or kiss anybody hello.         

But in the days that followed, the threat was becoming more and more serious, and the local government's response was getting more and more aggressive. First event to be cancelled was the  Panagbenga (Baguio Flower Festival) opening parade. But other public spectacles scheduled for the rest of February were merely moved to a later date which included the rest of the Baguio Flower Festival's major events and Ipitik, a cultural event.

Then by mid-February, the mayor along with the lead conveners of the flower festival made a judgement call - Panagbenga 2020 has been cancelled altogether. By then, organizers were still playing it by ear with Ipitik, although as the situation escalated, that too was eventually cancelled.

This was reminiscent of the meningococcemia scare in Baguio in 2005, and while no lockdown was implemented, then Mayor Braulio Yaranon publicly discouraged tourists from coming to Baguio, which was was both welcomed (mostly by Baguio residents) and criticized (mostly by hoteliers and other tourist-oriented businesses).

While our daughter was already making her way to Bulacan, our eldest son was having second thoughts about leaving the metro because of his work. He shares an apartment at the Bonifacio Global City with other young professionals like him, and he was under the impression then that he would be better off staying put in case the situation improved and work resumed. earlier than expected. I couldn't convince him otherwise with conviction, as I myself couldn't picture exactly how things would unfold in the coming days. Our daughter, who had a car, was already exiting the Coastal Road expressway and was about to enter Pasay, she could either make her way straight to Malolos or still make a turn towards BGC when she passes Makati - I called my son to make a final decision. He chose to stay, assuring us that he would be safe and with a promise to be very careful and to stay in touch as often as he could.

We made a stop in San Fernando, Pampanga to begin stocking up on essentials. Inside S&R, known for goods sold at wholesale prices, despite the sight of the occasional shopper with more than the normal number of shopping carts lined up at the checkout counters, everything still seemed normal. After getting what we could, including a few extra items to share with our family in Bulacan, we journeyed on.
  
During the 4-5 hours' drive to Bulacan, we stayed online to keep ourselves updated, and the situation seemed to escalate as fast as we were going on the North Luzon Expressway that by the time we exited the highway in Pulilan, checkpoints were already being set in place in various entry points into Metro Manila.

Sofia was already at my aunt's house in Bulacan when we arrived around dusk. I worried about my aunt and her family's safety seeing that they still continued to operate their sari-sari store. We wanted to make our way back to Baguio right way, but my aunt wouldn't allow that without serving us dinner. We learned that my cousin's husband was due to arrive that coming Monday when the metro would have been on lockdown already, and nobody knew how he could make his way to Malolos then. We hoped that his flight would be diverted to Clark, Pampanga. I also told my aunt that I thought it was best for them to stop the operations of her sari-sari store. She thought so too. After dinner, we got into the car and made our way back up to Baguio.

At our usual final stop before driving up either Kennon Road or Marcos Highway in Sison, Pangasinan, I remembered the last long bike ride I took just a few days earlier, on March 11. It was a beautiful day, and I had an analog SLR camera with me that I was trying out to see if I would buy it from a friend who's selling it. I rode straight to Ililikha Artist's Watering Hole that day after a grueling over 5-hour climb up Kennon Road. There was an ongoing event that evening, a tatooing and piercing session that culminated in a live performance by the band, Baka-baka. A friend and her young son were there to have coffee with us, and they were already seated at a table with Rl. Although after a whole day on a bike, I wasn't up for coffee right away, so I ordered a refreshing smoothie instead which Del, the guy who made the concoction, said was an immune system booster. The mix of greens, bell peppers and whatever else Del put in it was refreshing, and delicious.

Some images taken during that bike ride down and up Kennon Road,
a few days before the lockdown began.

I was still able to have the negatives processed on March 12, Thursday which the studio said would be ready by Saturday. I liked the pictures I took during the ride, and couldn't wait to see them in print. 

Baka-baka performs at that last public event held at Ililikha

We arrived in Baguio way past midnight, early hours of March 14, and made a stop at Volante, the 24-hour pizza place in Pacdal to wait for our youngest son who was being dropped off by his friends coming from a party. At 2:00 AM, the quietness of Pacdal, usually bustling with activity during the day with children on ponies riding around and endless stream of tourist vans coming and going, already had a strangeness to it, could even be disquieting. I took a snapshot of my own shadow created by the lamp post from across the road. And I thought then that this, right now, right here, this feeling, this disquiet, this eeriness, this feeling of anxiety, this is what it's going be like in the next few weeks.   

March 14, 2020, Saturday, we decided to head to downtown Baguio to get more essential supplies. I was able to make a detour to Ililikha Artist's Watering Hole for a coffee break. It was eerily quieter that afternoon. This time, people were taking social distancing a bit more seriously already. Having a cigarette at the rather cramped smoking area, I wondered if the couple of feet between the other smokers and myself were enough. I feel a sneeze coming on, I try to and successfully stifle it.

The announcement has been made, Baguio, together with the rest of Luzon, will be under Enhanced Community Quarantine. This is becoming more and more real.

On the way home, I remembered the negatives I had processed which I forgot to pass by for. So the next day, I made that one last trip to Session Road on the day before the city goes into lockdown, Sunday, March 15, 2020. The air in downtown Baguio was different with much less vehicles on the roads and people on the sidewalks, which, again, felt just like that moment in Pacdal earlier, quite heavy. I first went to the market for some fresh produce and coffee. There were only a few stalls open, and I almost didn't get to buy coffee - the only stall open that sold coffee was already closing shop for the day and didn't want to sell anymore. I told the lady behind the counter that I didn't need the coffee beans ground, and she agreed to make that one last sale. I couldn't remember all the ingredients Del put in his immune system boosting concoction, but that's ok, we had vitamin supplements in stock already.

I carried my market bags up Session Road towards Photo Tech Studio Cafe, and there was only one client there, photojournalist Andy Zapata, seated at a table with a face mask on. These days, it's so hard to determine whether people are glad to see you or not, sometimes the eyes don't communicate everything. From a distance of more than six feet, he pulls down the mask to say hello, we both sigh. My negatives were ready, I said thank you to the lady behind the counter and goodbye to Andy and rushed towards a photo printing shop a few meters down the road to have the negatives scanned and a contact print made.


That was the last time I was in unrestricted Baguio.   

At home, both our sons had their respective girlfriends over. We were still unsure about how the quarantine would be implemented, and heard that borders between Baguio and neighboring towns were already being closed. The younger son's friend decided that she wanted to go home to Tawang, La Trinidad, Benguet. But we weren't sure anymore if I would be allowed to dive her all the way from our place in Tuding, Itogon into Baguio (first possible checkpoint), down towards Brookside and up to Ambiong (second possible checkpoint). We made arrangements with her parents to meet us at the border between Baguio and La Trinidad in Ambiong.

This drive felt even more like being in some movie, the tension was more palpable as we, my son, his friend and I entered the area, we started looking out for the checkpoint. After passing a corner where we saw some police cars and personnel yet had no barricades, we stopped a few meters down the road and realized that that may have actually been the checkpoint already. Though we were not stopped, we decided to turn around and wait on the Baguio side of that spot. Her parents arrived, and after saying their goodbyes, she hopped into her parent's car.

My son and made our way back home mostly in silence, until I asked him, "What do you think?"

"About?"

"This whole thing, the virus, the lockdown..."

"I don't know..."

"Yeah, me too, I don't know..."

Yeah, we didn't know.