Baguio remembers 1990 killer quake

BAGUIO CITY(July 16, 2022)— Baguio City, 32 years ago, and other areas of North Luzon knelt into rubbles after a magnitude 7.7  earthquake shook at past 4:00 PM.
In commemoration,  Baguio City officials, together with heads and personnel of government line agencies renewed Saturday the great “vow of resiliency”, during and after disaster and calamities, displayed during the aftermath of the quake that killed thousands and virtually placed the city on its knees.
This coincided the start of the annual observation of the National Disaster Resiliency Month.
Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Cordillera Regional Director Albert Mogul said that the OCD with the cooperation of the people of the Cordillera was able to employ efficient measures as well as equip necessary skills and instruments in boosting the region’s disaster preparedness and resiliency.   He said there are still challenges that should be addressed and overcome them in ensuring a resilient community.
Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong and Mogul then opened the exhibit of search and rescue equipment of the OCD and display of other local government units’ disaster preparedness at the Baguio Convention Center.
“Mission against urban decay”
The commemoration came as the mission to save Baguio City from urban decay had been earlier launched by Magalong.
The city, whose environment has been compromised and carrying capacity upset,  turns 113 years old a month from now, and it is “hurtling towards urban decay”, he said.
A “change of mindset” to veer away from old destructive ways in the city, he said, is important, adding, “we have to come to terms now with difficult realities and decisions that will require all of us to adjust and to change the usual way of doing things.  We have to divest ourselves from “nakasanayan gaminen”, from “kastoy met idi”, from “nagbiit lang idi”.
He stressed, “it is about time that we need to change that old mindset because if we are not going to act now, urban decay will be irreversible.”
Results of the 2019 urban carrying capacity study showed that Baguio City has breached its natural carrying capacity of its environment and that urban decay had manifested starting 20 years ago.  The study showed that the city has breached the carrying capacity threshold of its Urban Road Area in 1988 as the standard allocation of 40 square meters per person to only 20.
Wayback in 1994, solid waste collection has exceeded the 52,000 metric ton capacity and now, 95,000 metric tons are being collected costing government P133 million per year, the study also showed.
In 2002, demand for water in the city has exceeded supply from the standard of 18.5 cu.m. of water per person to only at 14.5 cubic meters now.
The problem on liquid waste management started in 2007 when the city’s sewage treatment plant started operating beyond its 8,500 cu.m. per day capacity.
Baguio City’s ope. spaces have diminished starting 2008 while land for development had been reduced significantly starting in 2010.
Baguio’s forest cover, the same study also showed, is now at 22.68 percent down from 30 percent in 2012.  Busol watershed from 82 hectares has shrunk to only 45 hectares and Buyog from 19 hectares to just 7 hectares.  The green cover has also diminished starting 2016.
“The challenge is not to just reverse urban decay but to root out the causes, implement immediate and strategic solutions and eventually put us on track toward the Better Baguio we long for,” Magalong said in his inaugural on his second term as Baguio’s chief executive last June 30.
The city has begun developing ways and strategies to overcome and mitigate the problem, and exploring what would be its best strategy for population management vis-à-vis the plan to become a livable city which is the first step to putting back allowable densities in the different parts of the City,  Magalong explained.  “We are currently auditing the city, its people and resources, in order to develop a viable and equitable solution through an updated land use and zoning code.”
Magalong said that they have developed a digital twin of Baguio City, a dynamic, up-to-date virtual model of its physical assets.  “This virtual environment shall be the platform where planning, decision-making, and community engagements for the future will take place,” he cited.
He urged the cooperation of all sectors:   “Only when we come together with the 4-Cs of good governance — cooperation, collaboration, coordination and communication — would we be able to solve the City’s problems. We, altogether, need to be proactive and accepting for a much-needed transformation.”
Magalong’s 16-point core agenda continues to be his blueprint in achieving such “saving Baguio from urban decay mission”: Speeding up Government Actions; Revitalizing the Environment; Innovating Peace and Order Condition; Aggressive Traffic Management; Responsive Education Programs; Empowering the Youth; Expanding Health and Social Services; Responsible Tourism; Enlivened Culture, Arts, Crafts, and Heritage; Market Modernization; Efficient Disaster Management; Empowered and Accountable Barangay Governance; Strengthened Livelihood and Entrepreneurial Services; Poverty Reduction; Resolution of Indigenous People Land Issues; and Happiness.
“The impact of our actions may not be felt in the short term, but then again, it is for the quality of life of the young people, our children and our children’s children, that we are working for.  This should be our legacy to the next generation,” he said.
Artemio A. Dumlao

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