NEW ABONG, MATEO CARIÑO STATUE HIGHLIGHT IBALOY PARK DEV’T

September 13, 2024 Metro BLISTT

BAGUIO CITY

A new Abong (house) and a statue for one of the Ibaloy patriarchs of Baguio may just be in order as the Onjon ni Ivadoy looks forward to a new look Ibaloy Park at the Burnham Park. Onjon president Domesthenes Paus said that construction may start soon for the PhP78 million earmarked through the office of Sen. Robin Padilla, an adopted member of one of the biggest Ibaloy families here, the Carino clan.

Paus said that the PhP78 million funding will have PhP68 million for the Ibaloy Park and PhP10 million for the Igorot Park at the Margarita Fernandez Street (formerly Perfecto Street). While perimeter fencing will start soon around the park which was once part of the Children’s playground, Ibaloys here are eager to see the rise of a new Abong, a two-storey structure that is used for gathering of the original settlers of the city.

The ground is used for functions where at least a hundred can be seated and where some of the relics including photos of Mateo Carino donated to the organization nearly two years ago are displayed as well as the art works of the late Geoffrey Carantes, a history professor and former La Trnidad, Benguet councilor.

The Abong will be bigger also having a lot area of 32 x 9 meters or nearly twice the size of the current structure. Paus said that design of the Abong and other structures that will rise within the Ibaloy park will be determined and must comply with the request of the Carino family who helped push for the segregation of that portion of the Children’s Playground for the center of Ibaloy activities in the city. A statue of the Carino patriarch will also rise as Paus said that it could be based on a photo where he is riding a horse.

The organization is also eager to see the rise of another structure that could serve as a coffeeshop, as well as a souvenir shop. City Environment and Parks Management Officer Rhenan Diwas, an Ibaloy from neighboring Itogon town, met with the contractor and the Onjon Friday morning to discuss and possibly finalize the design of the Abong and other improvements in the park. He admitted that there is no final design yet although the CEPMO and the contractor have designs of their own. “We need to decide or even combine both,” he said.

As early as 2019, he said that a design had been made but has not been finalized. “We need to get the consensus of our members,” he said. Paus, however, has been requesting for the put up of a X parking building that will cater
to the needs of the members especially the elderlies. But such has been left out in the design, he said. “Hopefully in future appropriations, if there are,” he said.