Baguio City, the country’s summer capital originally built to accommodate only 25,000 people, confronts issues of rapid urbanization, environmental degradation and overpopulation as it celebrates its 106th founding anniversary this year. EV ESPIRITU / INQUIRER FILE
BAGUIO CITY — The temperature here seems to be tailored for Valentine’s Day, as it dropped to 9.6 degrees Celsius at 5 a.m. on Saturday, perfect for cuddling among lovers.
Residents bundled up in thick clothes when they went to market on the coldest morning recorded this year, an expected dip at this time when cold winds blow in from China and Siberia.
Baguio weather observer Danny Galati said the temperature may still drop in the coming days.
Efren Dalipog, a weather observer of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), said temperatures here have been hovering between 11 and 13 degrees Celsius in the past week.
It dropped to 11.7 degrees Celsius on Sunday, rose to 12.5 degrees on Monday and to 13.2 degrees on Tuesday. On Wednesday, it again dropped to 11.7 degrees Celsius, only to rise to 12.5 degrees on Thursday. On Friday, it was 10.5 degrees Celsius.
The city first felt the cold on Jan. 9 this year when the temperature slipped to 11 degrees Celsius, a welcome dip for most residents here.
“Cold is good. Cold brings tourists,” said businessman Michael del Rosario.
The heavy inflow of tourists was expected here as February has traditionally been the busiest month for the city. Tourists come for the monthlong Panagbenga or the Baguio Flower Festival. Next weekend, the city plays host to alumni of the Philippine Military Academy who will hold their annual homecoming.
But the chill also caught several tourists off guard when they disembarked at a parking lot in Burnham Park. A group of seniors from Manila who had intended to take a brisk walk around the park decided to have coffee at a local diner instead. It took other tourists several minutes to adjust to the cold and take a stroll around the lake.
Denise, a La Union resident who had arrived in shorts and a woolen sweater, had to ask a local vendor where she could buy a thicker jacket.
But the sales staff and office workers here who come to work early were prepared for the cold, with some of them wearing thick ski jackets lined with fur that they bought at nearby ukay or secondhand garment shops.
The months of December, January and February are the chilliest months in this summer capital because of the cold front.
The coldest day recorded in Baguio was Jan. 18, 1961, when the temperature dipped to 6.3 degrees Celsius. VINCENT CABREZA AND KIMBERLIE QUITASOL