US envoy discovers Baguio’s charms
US Ambassador to the Philippines, Philip Goldberg. PHOTO FROM STATE.GOV
BAGUIO CITY, Philippines—US Ambassador Philip Goldberg spent an extra day in this summer capital on Monday, expressing delight at the nippy weather and talking with local officials about the 1990 earthquake, the city’s historical ties to the United States, and the problems plaguing the city’s oldest hotel, Casa Vallejo.
Baguio Mayor Mauricio Domogan invited Goldberg to play golf, although city councilors may have discouraged the diplomat when they showed him a photograph of the mayor swinging his club while wearing his “preferred” golf getup: a traditional G-string and native headgear.
“What would Washington say?” was Goldberg’s light-hearted reply.
The ambassador also bantered with city officials about the chilly weather, which he experienced first-hand on the coldest weekend yet in the city this year.
The mercury dropped to 10.3 degrees Celsius on Saturday when Goldberg visited the Philippine Military Academy for the first time, before attending the annual cocktails hosted by the US Embassy at the Ambassador’s Residence in Camp John Hay.
The temperature dropped to 9.6 degrees on Sunday, when the ambassador read a story to abused children under the care of the Child and Family Services Philippines Inc., and toured Burnham Park and the BenCab Museum.
Baguio’s temperature rose a bit, to 11.6 degrees Celsius, on Monday when Goldberg visited the City Hall.
The diplomat acknowledged the city’s historical ties to the United States. Baguio was built by the American colonial government in the 1900s and was designed by American architect Daniel Burnham
Shorter travel time
Told that travel time to the mountain resort would soon be shortened still, thanks to the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEx) that is being constructed, Goldberg said: “You might see me here more often.”
The ambassador also expressed interest about the problem of Casa Vallejo, the subject of an eviction notice from an Ibaloi family that was recently granted an ancestral land title over the 105-year-old property.
Environment Secretary Ramon Paje last week directed the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to secure the compound and resist any group that may attempt to take over the hotel. The DENR has custody of the Casa Vallejo lot.
Goldberg said he heard about the controversy when he had dinner at the Hill Station restaurant in the hotel.
Domogan cited the Casa Vallejo case as an example of how a social justice law, Republic Act No. 8371 (the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997 or Ipra), has been mishandled, “creating more problems than it solved.”
The Ipra allows a government agency to issue certificates of ancestral land title to indigenous groups, even if some of the lands are encroached on government reservations and watersheds.
Goldberg also asked Domogan, who was a councilor when the 1990 earthquake struck Baguio, about the 7.7-magnitude temblor.
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