Baguio landmarks on e-map

The iconic Lion’s Head along scenic Kennon Road welcomes visitors to Baguio City, the country’s summer capital. —Photos By EV Espiritu

BAGUIO CITY — People may not be aware of a city marker on Governor Pack Road, where, during the American colonial period, the first sessions of the Second Philippine Commission led by Governor General Luke Wright were held from April 22 to June 11, 1904.

The commission, also known as the Taft Commission headed by William Howard Taft, issued the laws that shaped the Philippine government under US tutelage.

Stripped of its historical value after decades of apparent state neglect, that concrete marker is now part of a wall in a Korean restaurant, according to scholars and members of heritage conservation groups.

The groups have recently completed a comprehensive report on the city’s heritage sites and structures, hoping to convince the city government to preserve these “tangible and intangible treasures.” Their report aimed to advance “the protection and wise use of Baguio City’s cultural and historical wealth.”

The First Philippine Commission marker is ignored by patrons of a restaurant on Governor Pack Road.

They have uploaded online for people interested in history a user-friendly electronic map  showing 73 proposed heritage landmarks in Baguio, including old schools, houses and roads, complete with their historic and cultural profiles.

Along with the Governor Pack marker, the experts examined traffic-plagued Session Road, the old Baguio post office, which has been surrounded by food stalls and City Hall, which was modernized despite objections from heritage activists.

Food stalls and variety stores surround the Old Baguio Post Office.

Urban development

“Considering the direction and pace of over — if not confused — urban development in Baguio with its rich heritage for protection, the engagement of numerous stakeholders has to be built up,” the report said.

“The state of heritage awareness, appreciation, conservation actions and utilization has to be improved in view of growing challenges in [Baguio’s] urban management,” it said. It listed heritage structures proposed for mapping and marker installation.

The groups said that the heritage “assets” could be protected and conserved “only if we understand not only their functional use, but even their value beyond utility, as well as their meaning and significance that we wish to sustain.”

For example, the Baguio Cathedral is listed as a historical structure built on top of what Belgian missionaries in 1907 called “Mount Mary.”

“The church area was originally referred to as ‘kampaw’ by Ibaloys in the early 1900s as a ‘place for social gathering,’” the report said.

Pines Theater

What used to be Pines Theater on Session Road is described as the former residence of the Binay-an family. The theater was built in 1938 and was “given such name when Session Road was still full of pine trees.”

Some of the heritage sites are under the custody of national agencies.

The old post office, the report said, “can negotiate and sign a memorandum of agreement with Philippine Postal Corp. to transfer the management of the post office to Baguio for a minimum period of 25 years.”

Heritage consultants said the building could be “converted into a Baguio City visitors’ center and museum.”

City ordinances can also be passed to declare the Baguio Cathedral, post office, Burnham Park, Teachers’ Camp, Camp John Hay, Baguio Country Club, botanical garden, the presidential Mansion and Wright Park as heritage zones.

The heritage advocates encouraged the private sector to do its part in preserving Baguio’s legacy.

To protect the Philippine Commission marker, the report urged the city government to advise the restaurant about “the historical value of the place and if possible, help the city to take care of the marker.”

“The trail that Ibaloys referred to as Shenos became a usual promenade area that members of the Second Philippine Commission walked through from their meetings,” it said.

That is now Session Road, the busiest street in the city.

Baguio historical structures and sites

1. Baguio City Hall

2. Malcolm Square

3. Old stone market

4. Baden Powell building site

5. Cabinet Hill and Government Center

6. Casa Vallejo

7. Court of Appeals compound

8. Supreme Court compound

9. Old Baguio Post Office

10. Baguio Cathedral

11. Casiciaco Recoletos Seminary building

12. Church of the Resurrection

13. Convent of the Most Blessed Sacrament (Pink Sisters’ Convent)

14. Home Sweet Home

15. Little Flower Novitiate

16. St. Francis Convent

17. United Church of Christ in the Philippines

18. Baguio Central School

19. Baguio City National High School

20. Baguio Military Institute

21. Baguio Patriotic High School

22. Brent International School

23. Easter School

24. Japanese School

25. Lucban Elementary School

26. Maryknoll or Marishan School, now Maryknoll Ecological Sanctuary

27. Philippine Military Academy

Philippine Military Academy

28. Quezon Elementary School

29. St. Louis Schools and University

30. University of Baguio

31. University of the Cordilleras

32. University of the Philippines Baguio

33. Ating Tahanan

34. Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center

35. Baguio Stock Farm, now Baguio Dairy Farm

36. Camp Henry T. Allen, formerly Constabulary Hill

37. Dominican Hill Retreat House

38. Governor Whitmarsh Residence that became home to Cafe by the Ruins

39. Loakan Airport

40. Mirador Hills and Mirador Observatory

41. Teachers’ Camp

42. Ambassador’s Residence inside Camp John Hay

43. Mansion House

44. Baguio Country Club

45. Burnham Park

46. Camp John Hay

47. Voice of America compound

48. Bell Amphitheater

49. Igorot Garden

50. Forbes Park

51. Wright Park

52. American World War II Cemetery

53. Second Fil-Am Veterans Cemetery

54. Arevalo Building

55. Laperal Building

56. Laperal White House

57. Liberation Marker along Kennon Road (missing)

58. Liberation Marker along Marcos Highway

59. Liberation Marker along Naguilian Road

60. Mines View Park

61. MS Building

62. Muller Mansion, now Heritage Mansion

63. Peredo’s Lodging House

64. Philippine National Bank

65. Pines Theater

66. Plaza Theater

67. Session Theater

68. Harrison Road

69. Kennon Road

70. Leonard Wood Road

71. Naguilian Road

72. Pacdal Circle

73. Session Road