Writer-publisher JACK Cariño – scion of the Ibaloi clan that donated the Burnham Park and other prime lands to Baguio – laments the dismal state of the legacies of his ancestors, i.e. Mateo Cariño, the Ibaloi chieftain when the Americans came to build this city. The following is his wishlist for Baguio :
 Jack with Mrs Nelia Cid, Auntie Cecil Afable and
Judge Braulio Yaranon
- BLIST Plan beyond lip service and the realization of the Metro Baguio Development Authority in order to arrest Baguio’s march towards urban blight
- More trees and flowers
- Onwards to zero-waste goal
- Rehabilitation of Baguio's ancient and miasmic sewerage system
- Educational campaign for a Community Code of Ethics for tourist town living
- Restoration of heritage homes, buildings and sites
- Teaching of Cordillera local histories in local schools
- A grand and meaningful celebration of 2009 Baguio Centennial
- and for this wishlist not to remain a wishlist.
 | You Gave a Good Fight Kuya Jack. Congratulations. |
 | jackcarino wrote on May 15, '07, edited on May 19, '07 Election is about name recall, money, machinery and appearing at the doorsteps of residents even if that means some 360,000 households precariously located in rugged mountain sides and sleazy Baguio alleys.
Do people read your Midland Courier? As you've said, "Idealism doesn't sell." |
 | "Restoration of heritage homes, buildings and sites..." i'd go for this.. yeah! |
 | Sad but painful truth, no matter how sincere you are, how passionate you are about bringing back Baguio to the people, how "clean" you are - only a few of these kind of people will ever make it to the council. |
 | Manong Jack, This election is a preparation for the next! |
| jackcarino wrote on May 16, '07, edited on May 19, '07 I don't know, but Poppo Cosalan (who is # 11 as of press time) appears to have made it because when he lost the last time, he never stopped campaigning since. He and Atty. Fred Bagbagen have been campaigning for the last three years. Should voters be spoiled that way?
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 | We can still work on this wishlist! |
 | It seems the only way to win these days is to buy people's votes. It's sad that it's hard for non-corrupt people to get voted into office. But then we shouldn't stop trying to do something. I love you Pa. |
| jackcarino wrote on May 17, '07, edited on Jun 2, '07 WHY the INCUMBENTS STAY ENTRENCHED in POWER:
LESSONS in REAL POLITIK
We didn't believe a Baguio City Hall insider when he said that we would need a minimum of P2-Million if we wanted to win.
Some formula we learned for winning the election:
(If you are a first-timer..)
1) Have a minimum amount of half a million bucks for the basics - election collaterals such as posters, stickers, flyers, pak-pak team who posts and maintains the posters against all types of adversaries, gas, food, salaries, allowances and donations to all types including extortionists.
If you want ads for print and radio and more collaterals, double that budget.
2) Have budget for all Purok Leaders who will do the groundwork at community level;
3) Reserve Money for bidding the block voters, such as the popularly notorious "religious" groups (which are increasing in number through the years), or finance even "unholy alliances" to court the the so-called "ethnic vote."
If you are a re-electionist, needed are:
The basics...plus the continuous Retainer Fees for your bailiwicks and more Reserve Money for those whose votes are for sale, and maybe more for potential turncoats (like what happened at the sight of money to KKK's 10,000-strong Irisan bailiwick).
... and if you really are the insistent type inspite of formidable deafeat...pera...pera...pera...at pera pa --- in order to further finance the "junking" and "gapangan" for the last two days before the election day.
In Baguio, there was a low turnout of voters because of the rain, or probably even because of cynicism for the system.
Since the electorate have become so spoiled, fetch them from their houses and give them treats and allowances.
Election is a big business. |
 | Brave words from someone who just lost the election. Let's face it, Baguio will not be the same as what it was before - a beautiful and pristine home in the mountains. Scion, idealist, activist - may be a good candidate in theory but will not be free from the stains that politics and government can inflict on you. How do you think all these politicians started? Glad you won't be like them. Better to be a louder voice than part of the circus hoopla in City Hall. Right? |
| jackcarino wrote on May 19, '07, edited on May 19, '07 Urban renewal is being done in the old cities of Europe. In fact, architects there have invented a panoramic computer program that studies the re-designing of highly congested spots. So, I don't think Baguio is hopeless.
It is all a matter of vision, taste and sensibilities (and of course, fund-raising skills). As we've said at our company, the Heritage Promotions, aesthetics is a dangeorus territory for politicians steeped in legalese.
Cynicism won't help us. The politicians in us, in the long run, will depend on our character, spirituality and level of consciousness.(If I may be allowed to "lift my own bench," so to speak?) |
| Talking about fund raising. Manong Jack, in the academe there are people recruited just to get grants (funds). Pati ( or lalo na) sa Harvard. Maybe that's what you would need for the next election. A fund-raiser.
Interesting too, how the newly elected governor of Pampanga (Fr. Ed Panlilio) drummed up support and raised campaign funds : "This was also a smartly managed campaign. Its real focal point was a website that drew in support from all over the country and all over
the world. A local contest became a global campaign.....The campaign network was sustained through text messaging.....The whole effort depended entirely on voluntarism. While, elsewhere,
people attached themselves to campaigns to make some money from them, in the case of the Panlilio candidacy people joined at their own expense. This effort was funded by a broad base of really small donations and an excess of people desperately clinging to a glimmer of hope."
Jack for councilor pa rin ako!
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 | Methinks instead of spending that much for getting elected, the money that would be raised could be put to better use if we'd topple down Baguio's greatest embarrassment -- the concrete pine tree. |
| Can't we just topple down that "fake" tree like they did with Saddam's statue? And blow up that flyover eyesore near BGH? |
| On the other hand, Baguio's concrete pine tree is a "Great Monument to Corruption," according to Judge Braulio Yaranon. Whoever topples that without putting up a better alternative will just do a community service in reverse. |
| Yes, and it will also show how fake and "concrete" Baguio is continually becoming. We need a better symbol of moving forward towards re-greening and environmental protection. Anything that's put in the middle of that rotonda should be a lasting stigma for Real Baguio folk and not a sign of political selfishness and egoism. Making it stay as a symbol of corruption won't be good for citizens, it's too political. What benefit will we local citizens get from it? What about local pride? Baguio should show something it could be proud of to the nation and the world and it's definitely not a concrete pine tree. |
| You said you don't know much about Baguio local politics....now you're talking about local pride. |
| talking about local pride is different from politics.... I think every citizen, not just a politician or anyone who ran for office has a right to display his "local pride". It should be innate in everyone. It's true I don't know anything about Baguio politics but I'm truly learning a lot from you now. But I'm not going to run for office just like you did. I'd rather leave it for politicians who know better. I'd rather be a small voice who'll try to rock a big world, so to speak. Just like you, I'm just a simple citizen with concerns regarding my hometown. That's why I'm looking at this "list" and other things I wanted to change and hope that the local government be able to deal with it. |
 | Lisa
Hi Jack, just hopped over from my blog to yours. Of course there's so much I want to add to your wishlist, but there's only enough time to react to the comment by adu111: "I'd rather leave it to the politicians who know better." They only know how better to win, how better to milk the city, how better to uglify Baguio. We elect them to run the city as a corporation. But like corporations the executives should know better and hire experts for certain projects (just look at those tasteless "CLEAN RESTROOMS'' they erected all over the city) and not take them on themselves. Problem is they know better only to dream up of infrastructure projects which are merely excuses to line pockets but do not necessarily benefit the city at all (e.g. Baguio Flyover, Cement Pine Tree). And everything these people do is so devoid of good taste that I do hold them responsible for the way Baguio looks and behaves today. |
| Hi Ms. Lisa Araneta (Marcos):
My Wishlist which was published in the Midland Courier was actually shorter, thinking then that as a councilor candidate one's intended projects should be doable. Beyond that may be fatal. We cannot raise people's expectations too much. After all, the term is only for three years.
I didn't include then the renovation of the miasmic sewerage system which I suppose must be very expensive because the one we have was financed by the Japanese government. I don't even know if the city coffers could afford it nor how it allots resources.
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| Hi Jack,
Nope, am not the one married to Bongbong! Just an irritable old maid loving Baguio City (she lives in Laoag!)
Lisa |
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