Baguio: Heritage Zone

The ongoing struggle for possession of the Casa Vallejo property has brought to the fore two important issues - the right of the natives to their ancestral domain, and the need to preserve and protect vestiges of the city’s heritage.

On one side of this real estate coin is the family of Cosen Piraso claiming that the property rightfully belongs to their clan, unjustly appropriated by the government, and must be returned to Piraso’s descendants as represented by one Richard Acop.

On the other side is the National Resources Development Corporation of the Department of Natural Resources, current owners and administrators of the property, along with Roebling Hotels, Inc., current lessee of the property, along with Hill Station, a restaurant, Mt. Cloud Bookshop, North Haven Spa, the Baguio Cinematheque and Lagalag, an outdoor garment and equipment shop, all current tenants at the property. A petition is being circulated calling for the preservation of the structure, Casa Vallejo, which has silently witnessed the journey of Baguio from the year it officially became a city to today’s busting cosmopolitan. 

The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples has stepped in and has issued an order for the status quo to be maintained pending the resolution of the cases filed before it and the ongoing one at the Supreme Court.

Victory for the heritage preservation efforts? Perhaps. But for how long? When the next heritage site is threatened, do we go out there again, start another petition, even do out in the streets with our placards? Let’s not do it piece-meal, let’s go for the declaration of the whole City of Baguio as a heritage site. Vigan did it, why can’t we? 

With that, we can call for the formation of a local heritage commission by which office all developments in Baguio – from major public infrastructure like roads to simple construction projects such as building or renovating homes – will have to be approved with the following primary considerations: 

Is it in line with the pioneers’ original vision for the city? That is, first and foremost, a health and recreation center. 

How will the project impact the city during its construction period, during its operation, in the long run? 

Is it sustainable? Given the city’s carrying capacity, will it be able to sustain such a project not just today but in the years to come? 

Now’s the time to do this, for, as I have been asking for years now… we inherited a beautiful Baguio from the city’s pioneers, what kind of Baguio are we passing on to the next generation? 

Sign the petition to revive the Baguio Heritage Ordinance of 2005 here.