Art and the art of making bacon

 First of all, if you're one of those whose basic understanding of acting is that it's about pretending, don't get me started. I'll get back to this.

So almost exactly a year ago, the world went on lockdown. People's movements were restricted, we were mandated to wear masks and in our case in the Philippines, face shields. In Baguio, one can only go to the market and supermarket on certain days and for us living in the outskirts, only once a week. Most of us were forced to stay home. After a couple of weeks of the Enhanced Community Quarantine, I got on my bike to ride around the small village we live in - I figured I could make good distance if I went around several times down and up the same roads. Bike rides always make me feel better. But after two rounds around the same route, seeing the same houses, hearing the same dog bark at me, I went back home. It just wasn't the same. 

Each member of the household immediately found their respective routines - my days began with coffee with my wife at sunrise, which would extend for an extra hour or two for me if there are birds around. I'd take out my camera, put on the longest lens I have and start photographing birds. A son was in charge of brunch (we decided to have only two meals a day, which we still do to this day), so the rest of the morning would be spent doing whatever household chore needed to be done. Some mid-mornings were spent in my nothing box, as RL calls it - that's when I seem to stare into nothing, totally oblivious to what's happening around me. Contrary to its name, that nothing box is usually filled to the brim with thoughts, hopes and dreams, anxieties and fears and everything else in between. 

Anyway, one day, a day we were allowed to go to market, we bought lots of flour as the girls wanted to play around with oven in the kitchen. I bought some extra meat as I was craving for smoked fare. And the rest is history. 

Sort of. 

The thing with cured and smoked meats, there's no instant gratification. The curing process takes several days, and in the case of etag, there's the added few days sun-drying it and if it's kiniing/kinuday, an extra several hours of smoking. So while waiting, I played around with the flour in the kitchen - while the girls made their sugar-overloaded cookies and cinnamon rolls, I learned how to make bread. I'm a very impatient man, most people who know me, especially those who have worked with me, know that. With bread, it takes only an hour or so of waiting for the dough to rise, then in another half an hour, you've got bread. I liked that, and despite and after several failures, finally stumbled upon the perfect recipe for a basic loaf that the family likes. 

Many loaves later, I finally started smoking that first batch of kiniing. I liked it so much that the kids, especially the girls, rolled their eyes and expected the worst: expect him to make sure he got double, if not triple the amount of meat the next time he goes to market, which means we're gonna have smoked meat for days if not weeks. They were not wrong. And that next time, I chanced upon a good slab of pork belly, and after seeing RL put in a couple of packs of bacon in our cart, I thought I'd try to make my own bacon. I've tried it before, and I wasn't very happy with those first attempts but, with the world on lockdown, I have all the time in the world to finally get it. 

Making etag may seem easy at first glance, but there are learning curves one has to navigate still. Curing the meat in salt long enough to draw most of the moisture out makes the meat less attractive to flies when sun-drying it. One could also place the meat inside a mesh container to keep the flies out, but I didn't have that and what's worse than watching a pot waiting for the water to boil? Watching a batch of etag sun-drying and manually shooing the flies away. Or maybe it isn't exactly worse, at least you're not passively waiting - you get to shoo flies away every couple of minutes or so. 

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, I was going through basic bread recipes online, trying each one I find interesting out. I was going for a basic loaf and scones. I've had breads and biscuits that didn't rise properly, were rock hard when they came out of the oven, under-baked, over-baked. I took note of the failures and searched the web for probable reasons for them. Then tried again, keeping in mind the lessons learned. 

The initial batches of kiniing were really perfect for seasoning stews and soup dishes - they were that salty. As for the bacon, they were beginning to taste just right, but I didn't find them delicious yet. I was alternatingly curing them in brine and with dry rubs, using different ingredients for both every time but not entirely blindly - I took note of what's missing in this or that batch and made the necessary adjustments. A batch would be cured for three to five days, others for five to seven days, sundried for a couple, five, seven days or more. 

And one day, a great batch of scones and loaves bread came out of the oven and bacon out of the smoker which made me say, yup, these are it. Now the challenge became repeating that same process and coming up with exactly the same results.  

We haven't bought bread since the middle of last year, and the same goes with bacon, which this family just loves. And with most opportunities for artists like me still in hibernation, I thought of making at least the bacon available for sale to add to the very limited revenue stream these days. So the process just got a bit more professional, so to speak - curing salts, spices and herbs are more carefully measured, meats are inspected a bit more meticulously, curing and smoking duration more precisely timed, etc. 

What's this got to do with acting? As with any other craft, it requires much time and effort to learn and develop the skill sets necessary for it. No, acting isn't pretending, it is being and doing. Just like the need to learn how yeast interacts with the right water temperature, or how long it takes for the flavor to penetrate the layers of a slab of meat, playing a role requires a deep understanding of a character's being, and internalizing that. 

One has to understand that the knife should be held at an angle to efficiently removed the skin off of a slab or pork belly, or that circular fold and knead motion you have to do to prepare the dough. You read about these, watch others do it, learn from both others' mistakes and successes. 

As an actor, you have these basic tools: your unique mental, emotional and physical being. They interact with and influence each other. One has to learn what each can do, its potentials and limitations, and how they can be manipulated to tell the story of the character. You read about these, watch others do it, learn from both others' mistakes and successes. 

What's the smoked meat for? Flavoring stews and soup dishes or as a dish in itself? 

What's the character's relevance in the story and its relationship with the other characters in the play? Why does this other character interact the way they do to it? 

Which ingredient, feature or process best expresses what this bacon is about? The coarsely ground black pepper? The muscovado sugar? The smokiness? What should stand out and which serves as a backdrop? 

What characteristic, feature or action best tells the story of this character? The way they dress? The look in their eyes? When they speak or when they stay silent? What should stand out and which serves as a backdrop? 

Yes, it takes so much to be able to make bread or bacon, or play a character on stage or in a film.   

And yes, I have and there's so much more to learn - about bacon and art. 

And yes, there will always be people who will love that bacon or scone, and others who will not, those who will be blown away by a performance, and those who might not even notice you were there - but as an artist, or a baker or chef, what matters is that you respected the craft, gave it the dignity it deserves and did all you can to create something that's real and was not arrogant enough to present what you know to be nothing more than dabbling as art.

Or bacon.

Bonfire of the vanities

Privilege and entitlement, these were the words that first came to mind when I first heard of this party in Baguio. No, I heard about it not after photos of the event came out and the proverbial excreta hit the fan but before when preparations for it were being made. 

A couple of months prior: after the culmination of the Ibagiw Creative Festival 2020, I heard the name Tim Yap a lot. He gave away masks at the closing ceremony, and several artists would be seen wearing them around town days after the event. They were the good kind, they said, I'm not so sure but I think these were the copper variety. That was really nice, I thought.

A long time ago, an institution in Baguio was expecting guests who wanted to witness a cañao, so gongs were brought out, gong players and dancers were gathered, a native pig was bought, a Mambunong was called who refused to perform the ritual for entertainment purposes. So an "official event" was hastily put together and was made the reason for the cañao: the success of the "opening" of the event.     

Fast forward to some days prior: Cultural and tourism institutions in the city were all on their toes doing their share to honor one Tim Yap, and ensure that he had one hell of a birthday celebration. Wherever he planned to set foot in the city, the red carpet was being laid out, sites were being spruced up to make it even more interesting for Mr. Yap and his entourage of a few dozens. The next word that came to mind: sycophancy. 

Add vanity, self-importance and social media, that "cesspool of questionable human behavior" (Ducky, NCIS), in the mix and that's what we had: a portrait of hedonistic, apathetic self-important self-indulgence.  

The non-apologies added fuel to this bonfire of the vanities. Yap said the party was really about helping Baguio get back on its feet by supporting its local artists and promoting tourism. The Mayor confirmed that when he justified his presence by stating that it was a gesture of gratitude for the things that Yap has done for local artists - he bought several art pieces from the crafts fair during Ibagiw and the much-acclaimed exhibit, Interlinked, according to various social media posts. 

I find the suggestion that all the privileges and entitlements accorded him and his posse were justified because they were doing what they did for Baguio lame. Unjustified. Repellent, even. Offensive. Really now, what can Tim Yap do to promote tourism in Baguio that's better than the social media posts of non-celebrity visitors that drive droves to various destinations in the city? Panagbenga never needed a celebrity endorser. Actually, its celebrities who ride on the popularity of Panagbenga. There you go - Baguio does not and never needed a Tim Yap to boost its stock, it's Tim Yap who needed Baguio to boost his. 

Really, how much did Tim Yap's birthday party really do for local tourism that our tourism VIPs all but knelt in front of him and kissed his feet? By how much did Tim Yap and his purchases uplift the local art community that his party deserved the presence of the local chief executive at a very inopportune time, personally for the grieving mayor whose father passed recently and in whose memory a mass was scheduled that night, and generally for a city whose own citizenry has been placed under one of the strictest quarantine protocols in the country? 

Yap could have had his cake, but vanity, ahh vanity, the devil's favorite sin, to quote pop culture, compelled him to eat it too. He had 30, 40 or so of his friends and loved ones with him, all able to get into Baguio much easier than many of its own citizens stranded outside the city, and they could've enjoyed their wine and 5-star buffet in private. But no. He couldn't be content with having dozens of his close friends with him for a party that mere mortals are forbidden to hold, he had to have his audience for his circus. The all-white number, the Staying Alive pose against a backdrop of an opulent hotel and fireworks in the distance, the cultural performers in indigenous attire dancing to the music of gongs around a bonfire, all of that had to be be flaunted in public. In your face. He craved, needed the likes and hearts and thumbs-up and oohs and aahs - and for those, public health protocols, propriety, commons sense, decency - all of these be damned.

I feel sorry for the Mayor. I have worked with him as a consultant in the first months of his administration during which time I got to have a glimpse of the much celebrated public servant in private along with the workings of his office, I have agreed and disagreed with him on a lot of things still with all due respect, but in this issue, I feel sorry for him. I just cannot imagine the Benjie I got to know, worked with, biked with, chatted with, went against all odds and oddities with to stage a festival  dropping almost everything for a Tim Yap party. My first thought was - bad intel. Maybe, maybe not. But then, true to his character, the buck stopped with him. He owned it, took responsibility for it. Paid a high price for it, politically at least. And this is not the first time - he once humbled himself at the city council and apologized for the actions of people around and under him. I find that commendable. 

But that does and should not take away from the gravity of the faux pas. 

I feel even sorrier for the people who have really done so much for local art, culture and tourism - those who would never be caught dead wearing an all-white number, striking a Staying Alive pose against a backdrop of an opulent hotel and fireworks in the distance but have been working tirelessly and thanklessly to uplift the local art and culture sector, place Baguio on the international map, bring pride to the city, and will continue to do all that because their hearts truly belong to this city and its people - they're not allowed to party at all, hence no chance to be honored with the presence and gratitude of the Mayor on their birthday.

Baguio's pine trees: treasured heritage or mere obstructions?

Dozens of pine trees are about to killed in Baguio. 

Whoever sits in the various offices of power at the Baguio City Hall, they find it very easy to mention the Benguet Pine as one of the city's most treasured heritage, along with its invaluable contribution to the city's beauty and healthful climate - yet at the same time, whoever sits in the various offices of power at the Baguio City Hall, find it too easy, when nobody's looking, to consider them as mere obstacles to concrete monuments to misdirected initiatives that at times defy logic and common sense. In the last couple of decades, three of these inanities stand out: 

The concrete pine tree that replaced the live one at the top of Session Road (mid 1990's).

The murder of 182 trees by SM City Baguio for a parking building (2012).

The felling of 700 trees and destruction of water sources at Mt. Sto. Tomas (2014).

 And today, the year 2021, while the city grapples with a still continuously raging pandemic, decades-old majestic Benguet Pine Trees that up until backhoes, which between SM and the Ampatuans to me now is a symbol of death, started mowing them down in the last couple of weeks, welcomed travelers entering the city from Kennon Road or Marcos Highway are on death-row for a road-widening project. 

Not too long ago, pine trees have already been sacrificed in the construction of the flyover and makeover of the rotunda at the Baguio General Hospital. Apparently, the powers-that-be aren't done defacing Baguio yet.

Our attention was first called by a social media post by Fr. Gerardo Costa who runs an orphanage and wellness center located along Gov. Pack Road who was bidding farewell to their tree-lined driveway, apparently also in the way of the road-widening project.

The driveway of Home Sweet Home Orphanage and Help Center.
Image courtesy: Dave Leprozo, Jr.

Here's an interesting anecdote: before the construction of the flyovers at the BGH rotunda, the traffic in the area was not as bad as it is today, despite those flyovers. 

The project aims to alleviate the traffic situation in the area. The thing is, I pass there often, and save for those two days in a year during the annual Panagbenga parades, traffic very rarely builds up in that area. In fact, I usually take that route from the Burnham Park area on my way home to the eastern part of the city when I want to avoid the bottleneck in front of the Baguio General Hospital BECAUSE THERE'S NO TRAFFIC there. 

But, the backhoes are out, trees are being felled, and by the time they're done, another 36 majestic pine trees will have been murdered. Because today, sadly to the powers-that-be, they're not the city's heritage, icons, contributors to its beauty and healthful climate. No, today, they're in the way of their idea of progress. They're in the way of a multi-million-peso contract. They're in the way of of Baguio's journey towards hyper-urbanization and urban decay. They're in the way of another "misdirected initiative of energetic lumbermen," as Daniel Burnham referred to them in the early 1900's in his plea to succeeding administrators of Baguio to protect the natural environment or the city he designed. 

A backhoe executing Benguet Pine Trees.
Image courtesy: Dave Leprozo, Jr.

The dead lay on the side of the road.
Image courtesy: Dave Leprozo, Jr.

In a few weeks' time, instead of towering, beautiful and fragrant Benguet Pine trees, those entering Baguio will be welcomed by a wider, albeit harsh, soul-less concrete road. Is that progress?   

The current administration campaigned on a promise of a "breath of fresh air." As the city loses yet dozens of air-cleansing, life-giving and -protecting trees, can't help but wonder what kind of fresh air we're taking about here. 

Spoiling tourism

A friend, an outdoorsman and avid advocate of responsible eco-tourism and who has been vocal about his support for the gradual re-opening of Baguio to tourism provided that safety protocols are strictly implemented and observed, didn't mince words in his rant: "...I am fucking pissed that something like this is even allowed to happen and in fact encouraged in Baguio while they impose an absurd amount of movement restrictions on ordinary citizens!"

"Something like this" was the birthday party of one Tim Yap and as the video in the link above shows, it was one where perhaps after a couple of white wines, party-goers started throwing caution to the wind and partying like it was 2019. 

Biking side by side with JP a few weeks ago, sadly during the funeral of a departed friend, we had a conversation about his position on tourism. Among the many things I got from our chat was this: these days, with the myriad requirements tourists have to hurdle from actually getting tested for the virus to needing to have a private vehicle since public inter-regional transportation services aren't fully back in operation yet, only the rich could afford to go on vacations. To visit Baguio, they need to have tested negative for the virus, booked in an accredited hotel (most of the accredited hotels are on the high end, although this has since been expanded to include homestays and transient houses), declare their itinerary and strictly stick to it, etc. It's the rich who could afford to strictly follow restrictions and other protocols to keep themselves Covid-free.

I saw, and still see the point, actually. Generally, I agree that wherever it is safe to do so, various industries must be allowed to operate, as long as public safety is ensured. I just don't think tourism is one of those that are safe to bring back at the moment. Knowing the kind of tourism infrastructure, and by that I mean both facilities and systems, that Baguio has, there's the rub: public safety cannot be ensured. And I'm a firm believer in the concept that individuals may be smart, but crowds are or could get stupid. 

Being both a theater artist and producer, while I dream of and hope for our industry's re-opening, I have learned to accept the fact that the very nature of the industry I belong to makes its return to pre-Covid circumstances impossible at the moment. 

I can attempt to stage a production safely: 

1. Choose a material that minimizes intimate physical contact between actors so that physical contact between actors are minimized during rehearsals and performances. But, as a producer, can I guarantee that actors would strictly maintain a safe physical distance from each other for the entire 4-5 hours per day for around 30-45 days during rehearsals? I can't. 

2. Unless the material calls for face masks all throughout as costumes, it would be impossible to stage a play with actors hidden behind face masks. So as a director, I could ensure that I block the actors with at least 3 meters between them. Having no face masks on would already increase the risk of transmission, but keep actors three meters apart would still be accordance with social distancing protocols. Can I guarantee that the actors would not get carried away during performances and perhaps get a bit too close with a fellow actor on stage? I can't.  

3. Have everyone tested at regular intervals during the entire production process. Could a typical theater production afford to do this? Even an antigen test, cheaper and faster than the more reliable RT-PCR test, costs anywhere from 800-1,300. Even an intimate play with say 5 actors, a director, a stage manager, an assistant stage manager, a production manager, a stage hand, a make-up artist, a set and costume designer, a lighting designer add to that ushers during the show itself, would mean testing around 15 people at least thrice during the entire production process. So no, I can't.

    

4. Have the audience sit at least 3 to 4 seats apart. This would add a level of safety, but would significantly reduce a production's revenue potential. Also, make sure everyone in the audience is wearing a face mask and shield at all times. Sponsors are hard to come by these days when everybody's just trying to get by and survive and keep their heads above water in this pandemic, so a theater production could only survive with revenues from gate receipts. Reducing that revenue potential by 60-70% (although IATF rules allow for 50% capacity, being only one seat apart isn't safe if your in the same enclosed venue for an hour or two straight) dooms a production. So, again, no, an actual live production right now is not financially viable. 

And because I cannot guarantee both the artists' and the audience's safety, and if I did all that needs to be done to ensure that, the production would then not be financially viable - not to mention the effects that all the restrictions and protocols would have on the artwork itself. And with that, no, I can't and won't stage a play at this point. 

In the meantime, I do have other options as a performing artist mainly involving using the internet as my stage. It's not the same, but things aren't the same as before right now, so I, along with many others like me, would just have to bite the bullet because what we're risking here is nothing less than human lives. 

Back to tourism, and the lack of infrastructure to properly enforce health and safety protocols. 

Tourism bigwigs have been pushing for it since Baguio went from being under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) to first General then to Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ), and have actually succeeded in opening Baguio to tourists. In the first few weeks of opening up, residents have already been pointing out how many visitors could be seen around the city flouting Baguio's health protocols, not to mention, at times, basic human decency. Even before the official opening up of Baguio to tourists, I was actually surprised to see tourist gift shops opening up in Mines View and a trickle of who I assume were tourists shopping. I may be wrong about my assumption but it is really rare to see a local walking around carrying three Baguio brooms and a bag of jars of peanut brittle. 

And while movement of our own toddlers and senior citizens remained limited, groups of tourists could be seen in parks, malls, restaurants that include small children, even infants and seniors. 

We see and hear of large gatherings at posh establishments like Alphaland, The Manor and the Baguio Country Club, gatherings that we, locals, have been or are being told over and over again are not allowed, or at least must still be avoided. 

 

We are coming from the recent staging of the Ibagiw Creative Festival which not only showed that events that encourage mass gatherings could result in risky behaviors as seen in social media uploads by attendees that showed how safety protocols were being strictly observed but only in the first hour or two of the opening and closing ceremonies. A few glasses of wine and beer later, we saw how many of the attendees began letting their guards down posing for photos with neither face masks nor face shields. National Artist Kidlat Tahimik, along with his wife Katrin de Guia, would eventually test positive for Covid-19 with the filmmaker admitting in a statement that he may have been careless at the various Ibagiw-related events he attended, taking of his mask too often to oblige fans asking to be photographed with him. 

"Tao lang po..." the Mayor said in an interview on the Tim Yap birthday bash after a photo of himself, the celebrant (no mask) and his wife (no mask) circulated online. 

Exactly. 

Even the smartest and the most well-meaning individuals can get careless when in circumstances that allow, even encourage such carelessness. 

I often have to check myself when in the company of friends, as rare as such occasions present themselves these days - I do find myself relaxing at times pulling my mask down to take a sip from a cup of coffee and forgetting to put it back. My mantra right now when I'm in public places is  - "you're not supposed to be too comfortable." If I'm not feeling a bit of difficulty breathing or discomfort from a fogged-up face shield or eyeglasses, then there's something I'm missing, that there's something that I'm supposed to be doing that I am not.    

If chance encounters with friends on the road, in cafes, at the park make us relax or even get a bit careless, what more large gatherings where food and alcohol is served? Tim Yap and his apologists have been saying, to justify their reckless behavior: everyone tested negative for the virus. I assume those tests were done in Manila prior to their trip coming up as that's what's required of tourists entering the city - they were not tested again after making the long drive from Manila to Baguio (did they stop at gas stations at the expressway for coffee, lunch or dinner?); after going around the city prior to the scheduled events in Yap's extended birthday celebration; after the group's visit at Ililikha where they roamed around for a couple of hours; and after visiting the Interlink exhibit at the Baguio Convention Center. These are just some of the stops in their group itinerary that I know of. 

As with the performing arts, so with tourism  - there are things we can and cannot do at this time, and common sense dictates that tourism efforts that attract or allow a huge a number of people to gather, particularly indoors, is reckless and risky. 

And JP, along with other outdoor enthusiasts, have been pushing for safer outdoor adventure tourism initiatives which apparently have largely been ignored. I find this odd since the Mayor himself is an outdoorsman, leading local cyclists every Sunday on group rides around the city. In the same way that it was odd some months back when Baguio was slowly easing restrictions and enclosed spaces such as malls were allowed to re-open, yet security guards and policemen were shooing people away and disallowing pedestrians from sitting on park benches at public parks - wide open outdoor spaces where the risk of transmission is much lower. 

There are ways the tourism sector can stimulate economic activity without endangering the welfare, indeed, the lives, of the greater majority. They're hurting, we know, just like the rest of us. Schools are seeing record low enrollment numbers (they're limited to online classes). Transport sector's barely surviving (limited capacity for jeepneys, reduced days of operation). It's been slim pickings for the city's artists and cultural workers (especially as long as mass gatherings are prohibited). Meanwhile, our hospitals are beyond full capacity and our health workers are being stretched too thin as cases continue to rise.

Everyone is hurting, and is doing what they can to get by, again, AGAIN, without endangering the welfare of the majority. Why should the tourism sector be given way more slack than the rest of us? 

In a couple of days, Baguio and the rest of the region, will once again be placed under General Community Quarantine protocols. That means a step backward in mobility, in economic activity, in everyone's financial, emotional and mental well-being, in our journey towards a return to even just a semblance of normalcy. 

 

Spoiling tourism, particularly the kind that Tim Yap and his enablers espouse, spoils it for the rest of us. 

  

  

Romancing M16s, pistols and the yantok amidst a tempest

I didn't dare take a photo, I was that afraid. 

A friend wanted to have coffee at last Sunday, so I picked her up from her workplace at the bottom of Session Road and made our way up to Luisa's Cafe. Baguio's most famous road was "pedestrianized" and closed to vehicles that day. Stalls have been set up at intervals of a few meters selling local goods - from food products to woven fabrics to plants, etc.  It was a great idea - give Baguio folks a feeling of normalcy, a chance to heave a sigh, a breathe of fresh air. After all, we've been doing our best to adhere to one of one of the strictest quarantine protocols in the country, both in terms of policies and implementation, we haven't really had the chance at any real leisure activity since March, so given the opportunity to take a leisurely walk along Session Road - yeah, we'll take it. 

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, I've heard that before. Soon after crossing Malcolm Square, any good feeling I hoped to get from that short walk was immediately dashed by the sight of law enforcement officers who looked more like military personnel than members of a civilian police force in their camouflage, some carrying long firearms, others with pistols in holsters and many clutching a baton, or batuta, made of yantok. 

I understand that they're there to keep everyone safe, primarily by ensuring that everyone was wearing a mask and practicing proper physical distancing, but I just couldn't see the need for M16s (I'm guessing here, I'm not an expert on firearms at all) and yantoks to be brandished the way the were last Sunday. It reminded me of one senior citizen friend's lament at the height of the Enhanced Community Quarantine in the early days of this pandemic - "what are  the machine guns for?" he said, "what are they going to do if I forget to wear a mask and they see me outside my house? Shoot and kill me?" 

As with its sidewalks on regular days, each side of the road was one way either going up or down and as we approached the Mabini intersection, with Luisa's Cafe on the left (or the going down side), we crossed the road and saw a sign manned by a "baton-ed" personnel that said "No Entry" or "One Way", I don't exactly remember. But I thought, Luisa's was right next to that sign surely it's ok. I actually knew it was ok, but the yantok made me doubt myself. And true enough, as we approached the Luisa's (and that sign with the yantok-wielding officer, his eyes turned towards us and proceeded to point at us with his yantok and gestured for us not to proceed. I explained to him that we were going to Luisa's Cafe, the entrance to which was merely a couple of meters beyond the signage. He let us pass, though grudgingly, but he did let us pass. 

But it wasn't just the presence of those various arms that induced fear and anxiety, but also the demeanor of their bearers. Their scowls and piercing stares certainly did not make me feel safe, it made me feel like we were enemies, on opposite sides. They made me feel bad, they made me feel angry, they made me feel wrong, they made me feel sad, but no, they did not make me feel safe.   

I was in a hurry get inside, have a seat and that coffee to get away from the Armageddon-esque visuals of Session Road. We climbed the stairs to the second floor of Luisa's and were greeted by about 6 or 7 police officers, camouflaged, armed with either an M16, a pistol or a yantok (some of them had both the pistol and yantok), having coffee. There was no escaping them!

We heaved a sigh, not a happy sigh that the pedestrianization of Session Road hoped to achieve, but one of surrender, and perhaps partly to breathe out some of the anxiety that such an antagonistic sight induced.

We hoped to have a nice talk, catch up after months of not seeing each other, talk about our advocacy, ways to contribute to make Baguio a better place, but we just couldn't, especially when it started to rain and more camouflaged personnel came in for shelter, more M16s, more pistols, more yantoks.

At that point, we decided to cut short our coffee time and stood up to leave. "It's still raining very hard and we don't have umbrellas," I said, to which she replied. "That's ok, I've asked someone to bring us umbrellas." 

What was not said was that she'd rather get drenched in the rain than stay a minute longer in the presence of M16s, pistols and yantoks. 

There was no respite, no fresh air on Session Road that Sunday afternoon but only fear and anxiety amplified by a tempestuous downpour.

       

Political will vs. power blocs

People can't walk in both directions along Session Road, one sidewalk is one way going down and the other coming up to avoid face to face interactions, to minimize the spread of the virus... but tonight, we can all gather at the top of Session Road, side by side. And then later in the evening, we can all proceed to the night market, with stalls tightly packed next to each other. 

All it takes is a breath of contaminated air... a cough, a sneeze, a moment of having one's guard down, a mask pulled down to breathe better, a face shield pushed up to see better... our leaders should've known better...

Today shall be remembered as the day political will lost and political pressure from power blocs won at the risk of people's lives.

Realizing "Mithiin"

One of the activities most of us probably had so much time for at the height of the lockdown was to go through folders and files and media in our computers, phones, etc. One day in May, I was doing just that, I was scrolling down one hard rive and found a folder named, Baguio Music Festival 2011. There were photos of meetings with performing artists at Luisa's (inutang na bandehado ng pansit at ilang tasa ng kape, paki-lista muna, Manang Nora), ocular inspections of the Baguio Botanical Gardens and other pre-production activities. 

For that first one, I envisioned a three-day festival - Tunog Baguio on the first day, classical and musical theater pieces on the second day, and Made in Baguio on the third day. With two forums in between.

I remember RL reminding me then - our grant is only P150,000.00. We'll make it happen. And it happened.

That afternoon, I thought, this would be a good project to revive, I thought. The last edition was staged in 2015, the fifth in the series. It would be nice to get the 6th out, in the new normal. I started to draft an outline.

In a few days the concept paper was ready - I approach the regional office of the tourism department. The pitch was simple - we'll feature Baguio's open spaces and the idea is to educate audiences on the cultural, historical and social relevance of these spaces to the people of Baguio in the hope that with that, tourists in the future would be more caring and respectful when they visit these spaces. It was thumbed down. Ahhh, this was the part I didn't look forward to when producing independently, the thumbs downs.

Early in June, a colleague shared information about Nayong Pilipino Foundation's project called "Rhizomatic Interventions: A Call for Digital Content." The project allotted a modest grant for approved projects. She asked me to help share the information with Baguio artists who may need a little bit of help. I shared it on the Ibagiw page and sent the info directly to some artists who may be interested. But they day before the deadline for submission of proposals, the colleague informed me that nobody from Baguio submitted a proposal yet.

I tweaked the original concept paper and turned that into a proposal and sent it at the last minute to Nayong Pilipino. I forgot about it until a week or so later when received an email from the foundation that my proposal has been shortlisted. They asked for more details - understandably since the proposal I sent was rushed and had only the essence of what I intended to do. Another couple of week and I was told that I was in n even shorter list now.

And then finally, the good news: it's been approved. But the grant wouldn't be enough to finance the whole project. But that is familiar territory, and like I said during the first Baguio Music Festival and in most of our independent undertakings, we'll make this happen. Despite be told that as of the moment I had no idea where I’m going to get the rest of the funding but that I would do what I can to ensure that every single participating artist would be compensated, except for one artist whose mobile signal was too erratic for us to have a decent conversation, everyone I originally thought should be in “Open Spaces VI - Mithiin,” agreed to be part of it. That was all I needed to really know that this project will definitely happen.

We had a lean staff - my wife, Rl, whose schedule of online classes prevented her from taking a more active part in the production process, was a supervising production manager; the hands-on day-to-day management of the project fell on daughter Gabriela, production manager, and son Aeneas, assistant director; then we brought in EJ Romawac to be production assistant slash cameraman slash performer as member of one of the featured bands, Baka-baka.

In the meantime, I started an online fund-sourcing campaign. Just public enough to reach people I personally know. As day one of the shooting neared, we got our first reply from a dear friend on the other side of the earth - enough to cover the honoraria of three to four artists. 30 to go. We went ahead with the first day of filming, advancing honoraria and transportation allowances in the meantime. 

By the time we ended filming, we had enough to provide every single participating artist with what we’ve termed pantawid. And when contributions continued to come in even after the premiere of the final video, we were just so happy to surprise everyone with notifications from their respective GCash or online bank accounts that some additional cash, albeit really humble amounts, have been deposited for them. And for the few artists who waived their honoraria, we made sure that we honored their participation in kind.

But I knew too, that for all of them, it’s not about that - every single one of them is an artist I’ve worked with in the past, some for projects that paid handsomely, other times for productions that had no funding at all but was for a very worthy cause whether advocating human rights or defending the environment or Baguio from crass commercialism and traditional politics.
So first and foremost, I wish to thank the artists of Mithiin for taking this journey with us.
And our sincerest gratitude to our supporters - your generous contributions weren’t only pantawid, it made the production possible which gave us and our audiences a glimmer of hope in these dark times:

Mr. Reynaldo C. Bautista, Sr.

Ivee Bongosia

Rylyn Johann Danganan

Gina Evangelista

Paolo Mercado

Dana Cosio-Mercado

Raymond Red

Joel Santiago

Roy Hapa Sy

Marie Ventura

Ms. Gladys Vergara and the Baguio Tourism Council 

Mylen Yaranon

And to the rest of our contributors who wished to remain anonymous, maraming salamat sa inyong tulong! Dahil sa inyo, naisakatuparan namin ang aming Mithiin.

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,