CROWDED MOUNTAIN Baguio City has asked local businessmen to invest in over 50 projects that will redevelop the summer capital and prevent its urban decay given the high population and unregulated construction in the city. —EV ESPIRITU
BAGUIO CITY — The Baguio Chamber of Commerce and Industry is reviewing more than 50 redevelopment projects lined up by the city government after being invited to invest and help curb its looming urban decay.
Zosimo Abratique, the chamber’s president, said the city’s business owners were asked by Mayor Benjamin Magalong to finance parking buildings or other infrastructure required by high-impact projects during an investment forum on Monday.
These development projects have already drawn the interest of corporate giants like Manny V. Pangilinan and San Miguel Corp. (SMC), the mayor also said on Monday.
Abratique, who represents the public market in the chamber, said local entrepreneurs would study the Baguio government’s master plans and conceptual engineering designs for projects that would improve inner-city traffic like a cable car system, the environment, urban food production, education and housing.
Local residents could also invest in a bond that would be put up to help finance these projects.
READ: Magalong lines up 50 projects to prevent urban decay in Baguio
The hubs
City Planning and Development Officer Donna Rimando Tabangin said prime for investments were the “eco hub” along Kennon Road; the parks hub, which is the largest cluster of heritage parks like the Botanical Garden and the Mines View Park; the Cordillera gateway hub, which leads to Halsema Highway (Benguet–Mountain Province Road); and the airport hub at Loakan Airport in Baguio.
The city government intends to develop properties surrounding the airport into commercial and downstream industries, a move welcomed by Philippine Airlines president Stanley Ng, Magalong said.
According to the mayor, SMC chair Ramon Ang has also indicated interest in the city’s airport and was also eyeing a rain-harvesting project.
Meanwhile, Pangilinan’s Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. and Singapore Technologies Engineering (ST Engineering) expressed their interest in putting up an automated system that will manage Baguio’s public utilities and traffic flow.
ST Engineering is poised to submit an unsolicited proposal for the project in September, but the required artificial intelligence-aided parking buildings are being offered to Baguio investors instead, Magalong said.
He said feasibility studies had confirmed that parking buildings would generate high revenue.
Breeding ground
Tabangin said agriculture projects were in city’s investment zones, such as the southbound hub along Marcos Highway, where a modern abattoir would rise.
These projects not only benefit the city, but also five towns in Benguet province that comprise an economic alliance called BLISTT (Baguio, La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba, and Tublay), Magalong said.
For instance, a common breeding ground to generate poultry, beef, pork, and even rabbit meat would be among the city’s projects that would spill over to its neighbors, the mayor said.
“When we breed our own meat, we will be isolated from animal diseases,” Magalong said.
City Councilor Isabelo Cosalan, chair of the council committee on market, also batted for wider participation among residents in urban farming as a means of livelihood, noting that Baguio has 3,000 full-time farmers, including vegetable gardeners who grow food on rooftops and their backyards.
—VINCENT CABREZA
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