Baguio City submerged in floods?! What?!
I was in a trance! Shocking! I can never imagine that Baguio City, with an an altitude of approximately 1500 meters or 5100 ft could be flooded like this:
Now, this time around, one can never blame the dams.
Photo Credits: Yahoo News
There are three roads leading to Baguio City. The Kennon Road, the Aspiras-Palispis Highway and the Quirino Highway. The road that we usually take is the Kennon Road. It’s scenic, but always sends shivers down my spine. You have no idea how many Hail Mary’s I recite when I am on this highway! Now, if you want the safer but longer route, which I have not experienced yet, you can take the Aspiras Highway which is the former Marcos Highway. Yesterday, Baguio City was reported to have been isolated already.
It’s not the dam. It’s not the release of waters. It’s not even the rain. Here’s what they said:
“IF THERE was no garbage problem, there would have been less floods,” said Baguio Representative Mauricio Domogan as he cited that the city camp lagoons, in particular, were submerged in water. According to him, garbage problem aggravated the flooding in Baguio during Typhoon Pepeng (international codename: Parma).(Source: Garbage worsens flooding in Baguio)
And as always, there never was any proactivity. None. It’s only now that they are talking about fixing the drainage system. We have not learned what to do with the garbage. I guess, there is no connection with our supposedly very high literacy rate of 92% or 93% with how Filipinos handle trash and garbage.
Just what is wrong us?!
Wait.
No.
Just what is wrong with THEM?!
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reynz is one Uragon and a Filipino-American, has many years of public accounting & auditing, broadcast investments, housing tax credits and equity investments as his background. Based in the US, he maintains his personal and humor blog at reyna elena dot com. A graduate of Aquinas U, he went to GWU and Temple U in the United States.
OMG! wala na bang katapusan ito?
Parang ayoko nang internet para wala akong kapangitan na makikita. parang hindi na ako makahinga. I wonder how this people (incharge) makakatulog ng mahimbing. Sa palagay ko nilulunod na lang ang sarili sa alak at bino baka ung iba baka nag drugas na lang para makalimutan na lang ang lahat.
wag kang mawalan nang pag-asa. ayun sa current entry. merong magandang dumating. si LOLA. hehehe! andyan na si LOLA hahaha
Tubig galing bundok yan mudra.
Malambot na ang lupa.
Less na ang trees.
Matinding pollution.
Equals = baha in Baguio.
nyay. saan pa ako mamamalagi nyan kung pati dubai at baguio ay binabaha na?
problema na ito ng tao. kelan ba tayo gigisng.
sabi ko nga sa parents ko punuuin ng mga puno at halaman ang bakuran at mag recycle.
oo nga ano bundok tapos binabaha?!
I studied in SLU (Saint Louis University)..i really love baguio and it’s very very sad what is happening to this place..i hope they recover soon..we seriously need to re-assess our actions to the environment..we are created as stewards but we are taking things for granted..nature’s way of reminding us – he’s mightier than any of our human forces combined!
para kasing basin yung lugar na yun sa may burnham park eh, and i thought ok ang drainage nung tubig dun, mistulang lake pala ang area na yun, an dami pa namang businesses sa paligid dun
Oh my goodness me! If Baguio is flooded, then the rest of Luzon must be under water.
What on earth is happening?
shocking! ain’t it?
it really ain’t shocking,same incident happened several years ago. ang city camp lagoon umapaw, ang burnham park umapaw, causing waist-high flooding in the central business area. ang shocking siguro ay kung paano pa na su survive ng mga tao ang ganung eksena.
i resided in baguio for 12 years, i left my family there dahil sa fortunate o unfortunate na work ko dito sa abroad..i’ve been deeply saddened upon hearing the news, flooding, the landslides, mudslides and all. ngayon daw may scarcity na ng food all over the city and even sa outskirt municipalities. gas is running out na rin. my children’s classes are suspended for it’s second week. malapit na ma imobilize ang baguio, paano na lang ang buhay ng mga residente.
and i can’t help it but to worry.. mag worry, mag emo at mag emo..
The people in this country need to start engaging brain!
Don’t people in this country know that they cannot just dump garbage everywhere? That they cannot just pull out trees left right and center? That they cannot just excavate and excavate? That they cannot just build on and occupy every inch of land without proper drainage and sewage system? That they cannot just build houses, subdivisions, etc. on marshes? That they cannot keep on shitting with the environment forever and ever and not suffer the consequence?
Good heavens! What’s wrong with the people of this country? What’s wrong with its leaders? They boast of having top education, top technocrats, and all the shit, yet they have no common sense, no ability to manage, no capacity to engage brain!
Whilie it’s true that nature wreaks havoc and that it can’t be helped when that happens, it is also true that inahbitants of this planet called the Philippines have not done and are not doing enough to limit the damages that nature inflict on this hapless nation!
And of course, the leaders of this country, who are supposed to have the skills, the know how, the savoir faire are nothing but dung brained. They are not only corrupt in the literal sense of the word, their brains are also corrupt!
if you’ve been to baguio lately, maloloka ka sa mga squatters that sprouted sa bundok. when we went to this chinese temple (i forgot the name) the taxi driver told us na basta na lang daw nahulog yung isang bahay sa kalye and you could really see the houses right on the edges of the mountain – nakakatakot, who knows how the building codes are, am sure “alam nila” yun better that i do haha
we’ve read na kahit pine trees halos nangawala na sa baguio right? konti na lang naman na talaga sya ang i hope they do some serious replanting ultimo yong nasa gitna nung kalye nila – again i forgot the name of the street – ang nakakatawa – semento na yong pine tree hahaha
and true! the garbage is unbelievable, maglakad ka lang sa session road, kasi dun kami nag-check in sa isang cheap na hotel a block away sa session road para nga walking distance lang, nakakaloka ang garbage situation sa baguio! as in, an dami na kasing tao dun!
I pity them but at the same time I’m angry at all of them!
The people of this country must revolt and hang their leaders upside down!
They should start being serious — they must read the fable of The Ant and The Grasshpper…
honestly, in the morning, makikita mo naman na marami talagang mga city cleaners kaya lang, mga tao din, walang disiplina. just like in manila. tapon nang tapon wherever. ano naman ang magagawa nang street sweeper di ba? that’s like 1 versus a thousand
Baguio city is, rather used to be my favourite city in Pinas — I lived there a million years ago, and I’m upset that the combination of nature and human stupidity has allowed this tragedy to happen.
Reynz,
Bakit ganoon ang mga Pinoy, they seem not to have any regard for their land or for things they don’t “own”? They abuse it and misuse it. Marami na ngang natural disastrs, dinagdagan pa ng kagaguhan. Couple that with indiscipline and the absence of culture of maintenance, result? Tragedy that could have been limited if only Pinoys didn’t practice scorched earth policy in terms of urban planning!
I have a story…
Pareho nung tenant kong Pinoy family. (Dahil siguro hindi sa kanila ang bahay, sige, walang regard!) Mag-asawa na may isang anak na 2 or 3 years old. A friend pleaded with me to rent out a 2-room flat to them dahil kawawa daw, may anak. Sabi ko maliit para sa isang family. Ok, lang daw. I agreed even when I already had a sure-fire French tenant, a bachelor with a fixed employment and all the insurances required just to please my friend. She said, they were good people. So, ok lang sa akin.
I accepted. Then, little by little, the guys living below their floor started to complain. First one was may leak daw sa kanila. Paanong nangyari yon eh recently renovated just before the Pinoy family occupied the place. Plumbing, new bathroom, kitchen, painted, kitchen fully equiped. Anyway, I had it checked and guess what? They Pinoy family didn’t report it to me but the washing machine broke down daw and the water flooded the place but they dried up everything daw. So I asked them why they didn’t tell me right away? We could have avoided damage to neighbours downstairs, etc., etc., Nahihiya daw sila. Anyway, ok pa rin. Insurance took care of everything and they continued. Tapos, they started missing on their payments. Etc.
Next complaint, the Pinoy family would leave the garbage in the hallway overnight (siguro dahil maamoy). The neighbours started to complain and said, they should take down the rubbish straight away and not leave them there. Tapos, they were noisy during weekends, maraming kantahan daw ang nangyayari and masyadong smelly sa luto, neighbours, kung puwede sara nila iyong front door kung nagluluto dahil maamoy.
Punyeta, I was receiving nothing except complaints. I was living abroad and couldn’t be there to check on things. I finally told them that I wouldn’t renew their lease and they had better start looking for another place. Maybe because I wasn’t going to let them renew the lease, they just stopped last 3 months rent (deposit and 2 months guarantee kasi nasa akin — the guarantee was not in lieu of unpaid rent but for damages to the house in case…)
So, when the lease was over, I went out of my way, took the train to meet them as agreed. Ang mga loko, they left with just a note saying the keys were in the mailbox. Parang mga ghosts.
When I finally got in, what did I find? the kitchen was dirty, sunog pa iyong work plan, the fridge was broken, the toilette’s rim was broken. The walls were brown with oil and crass. And the carpet, ang daming stains — to think that the carpet like the kitchen fittings were brand new.
Naku I got so mad and told my friend that her “friends” were pigs. No notion of maintenance. I just let it go. Nalugi talaga ako because the walls had to be repainted, the carpet changed, new fridge had to be put in, etc, etc. I told myself, I will never, ever rent to Pinoys again, maski mag-makaawa ulit sa akin.
Walang respeto kung hindi nila owned ang isang lugar!
Reynz, sorry for the rant.
hahaha! boy were you such out of luck huh?!
i’ve heard it many times na there is truly something wrong daw sa culture naten. of course, pinoy ako, ayokong maniwala. but your story is like one common story. narinig ko na rin yan sa ibang mga pinoy here who have apartments for rent. hindi naman lahat, pero typically, as is usual naman sa mga pinoys, siempre kung saan makakalibre they’d do as much as they can to the point na gagametin ko to the max. ansama of course.
luckily, yong mga boarders ko nun – dati mag-asawang tiga-Bacolod, they never gave me any problem. masyadong mabait. my last boarder ko naman noon, si james, naging kebigan ko pa.
hopefully sa susunod, i-x ray mo hahaha
Naku, Reynz, wala na… I told my friend, who is head of a Pinoy association, I won’t rent again to any of her members. I cannot afford to have complaints and damages all the time.
One of my flats in an “all-white” tenanted building, is being rented by a Tunisian couple recommended highly by my real estate agent (pareho nung Pinoy family, came with a personal and moral guarantee). Flats to rent in Paris go like pancakes… no problem renting out to French would be tenants but ako naman, I’m not mahirap na kausapin na landlord and OK lang maski sino kung matino, so I agreed.
(At the beginning, the owners of the other flats (some were living in the building so medyo wary sila) were a bit wary when they learned that their neighbours were Tunisians — one of the neigbours said, let’s hope they won’t bring their entire family from Tunisia and live in the flat (kasi ang mga Tunisians may reputation sila, parang Pinoys kasi, they will bring in a dozen members of their family sa isang maliit na apartment, hehe!)
Almost 4 years na silang tenants ko, but not a squeak. Since I’m living abroad, I don’t really know the state of the apartment inside but one of my neighbours who had been invited by the couple to dine in the flat was impressed. Sabi niya sa akin, malinis ang flat parang bago.
All the neighbours became their friends and have nothing but good word for the couple. I haven’t had any problem with them all these last so many years.
masakit din talaga sa ulo yan. ang typical yan sa property management. ilang companies na ang hinawakan ko in property/asset management, kung ano ano nang background investigation ang ginagawa namen, oras na lumayas ang mga yan, an dami nilang sinisira. ayokong ikwento lahat dahil male-label akong racista hahaha
Aha! In property management ka pala. So if ever you migrate to Paris, you can go into asset and property management pala.
I’ve just renewed a contract with property managers (last week to be exact) in Paris; fees they asked was 10% + VAT based on the price of the monthly rent; I thought ang taas ng rate but at least, they take care of problems with tenants, or whoever; they also collect my rent for me and just deposit it in my bank, issue receipts, takes care of checking in and out of would be tenants, etc. (Iba pa yong building managers, another fee pa rin, hayayay… )
oo ana. asset management ang linya nang lola. baka kelangan mo nang reyna elena sa corporasyon mo, tawagan mo lang ako hahaha hanggang housing tax credits
dito kasi sa US, yearly merong budget ang gobyerness na mamudmud nang tax credits for housing at yun ang drama nang mga companies na pinagtatrabahuan ko.
we would bid and make proposals para ma-award nang tax credits
then sell namen ang tax credits na yan sa wall street
plus any federal or state funding, magtatayo kami nang developments
focused mostly sa lower-income brackets
pero involved ang private lenders para ma-maximize and best practice chorva
o ano? hire mo na ako? hahaha
Naku, Reynz, malulugi ka sa akin …hahahah! Iilan lang maliit na flats ang arian ko. Maliit na investment ito. Tama lang pang bakasyon…
Buti ka mo si Darling’s accountants for tax purposes, bayad ng kompanya ang accountants dahil expat kami, if not, imagine poor me, a total ignoramus in terms of taxes, etc., would have to hire an accountant pa… E paano yon wala ng matitira sa akin.
buti you me mga investments dyan. ako yung akin – flat-tado talaga. grabe! gusto ko na talagang umuwi sa pinas waaaa!!! wala lang trabaho dun kainis!
Manila Bay Watch: After Pepeng and Ondoy, Filipinos need to start engaging brain!
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I’ve come back from my self-imposed hiatus in this blog to express my indignation over what’s happening in Baguio that I read in Barrio Siete.
Reynz, the kapitana del barrio is shocked that Baguio City is under water! Pictures prove it [...]
di ba naging cleanliest city ang Baguio? tama ba ako?
Kelan ba yun? 1993?
Ano na ba tawag sa Baguio ngayon?
kaso naman yong parameters nang cleanliness eh dun lang sa mga nakikita mo sa harap. oras na puntahan mo ang likod, dun mo makikita ang mga nakatambak na basura. gaya nga sa mga provinsya, yong mga creek at river na malapit sa city proper mismo, mistulang kahindik hindik tingnan.
if you go around Baguio, malinis naman talaga at maganda, until you take another look
I thought landslides lang ang tumama sa Baguio. Binaha din pala sila. Tsk tsk tsk.