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01.29.08“Covering” Our Officials
What are the chances that any of our Cordillera officials will make the cover of international magazines? Unless they do something really really newsworthy like, say, win a Nobel Peace Price or get themselves adopted by Angelina Jolie, we must say that such chances are zero.
Of course, that shouldn’t stop us from creating fake magazine covers for our officials like we did here.
We used the National Geographic cover for Ifugao Governor Teddy Baguilat because he keeps talking about cultural heritage, environment, alternative tourism and those kinds of stuff that said magazine usually writes about.
Meanwhile, we used People magazine for Baguio Congressman Mauricio Domogan because we can’t resist it. Eh, how can we not use People magazine as the cover template with that hat he is wearing?
Now, do we have too much time in our hands or what? Kasalanan ni Ivadoy Country kasi sinimulan niya hehe (Thanks FBI).
If you have politicians you would like us to “cover”, please tell us in the comments.
CREDITS: Magmypic for the covers and Drasko and the Taipei Times for the original photos.
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01.27.08The Scientologists Are Coming: Run, iBaguios, Run Away!
Or better yet drive those Scientologists out of your city. It pains me to say this because I believe in ecumenism (respect other religions, pare) but the Church of Scientology, which is apparently now in Baguio doing good deeds, is not a religion but a cult.
So one wonders why Baguio officials are, like, consorting with them and why the Philippine Information Agency is uncritically promoting their activities.
Hello people, just because these Scientologists pretend to speak your language (i.e., let’s solve poverty, prevent drugs, do relief work, etc.) doesn’t mean that they are what they pretend they are. Really, you have to be totally uninformed (or very gullible) these days to be taken in by this cult.
So Baguio folks beware, this is Scientologist’s modus operandi: They will catch you when you are particularly vulnerable, they will offer you help with their psychological “security auditing” mumbo-jumbo, and they will bait you to reveal everything to them (yes everything from your sexual dreams to your financial assets). Now, when you want to leave the, ehem, “church” they will use your revelations (which they recorded) to blackmail you so you can’t leave.
You can watch a Scientology audit here. It is beyond weird.
Lastly, in case you missed it, we did a post on L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology who claimed that he was able to learn the Igoroti language in one single night. You can read in in our first home, from the boondocks.
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01.25.08Take Two on That Logo
Earlier, we stated that the Baguio Centennial Logo looks cool. We still believe it does. However, Karla raises a valid point in the comment section which we are reprinting here.
Regarding the logo, it is aesthetically pleasing and exudes a city that is vibrant. Logo design is always a controversial process and everyone not directly involved has an opinion. Congratulations to the artist for coming up with a centennial logo that is vibrant. Baguio’s children will remember it for a long, long time because it is very colorful.
BUT it would have been better if it also made one FEEL that Baguio is located in the highlands and that it was once a dominantly Ibaloi place, had an American presence, and now a very cosmopolitan city. Possible solutions could have included an image of zigzag road somewhere, use of Ibaloi language in expressing “culture of caring”, a building reminiscent of American presence, people images that express this cosmopolitan complex.
True indeed. The logo might be a good representation of Baguio now but it says very little about Baguio’s history particularly its Ibaloi heritage. This is unfortunate because the centennial is, more than anything else, a celebration of the past. Maybe they can include an Ibaloy version of the tagline (”a culture of caring”) as Karla suggests? Or add a more distinctive Baguio/Ibaloy icon?
Of course you can say, “What about the strawberry and the sunflower”? Well, I’m not quite sure if these are distinctive enough. They are pretty generic symbols and are not really uniquely Baguio. In fact, without the headline (i.e., Baguio Centennial) you would be hard pressed to immediately identify the logo with Baguio.
Now, don’t get me wrong, the logo looks cool as I mentioned earlier. It is an inspired work and let’s give kudos to the artist who made it. There is no doubt that it is, to use Karla’s words, aesthetically pleasing. However, it lacks a certain connection with the city’s unique character, its cultural heritage, and the past 100 years. What do you think?
By the way, thanks Karla :-)
PHOTO SOURCE: Baguio Centennial Commission.
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01.24.08What is Your Vision for Baguio?
The Baguio Centennial Commission a.k.a Centecomm (sounds like a menacing Soviet agency during the cold war haha) is asking you to share your vision for the city in the next 20 years. Our ideas will be taken seriously daw by the Centecomm folks so let’s go ahead and envision something.
Mine is not so much a vision for Baguio but I hope that officials will pedestrianize the city. Instead of constructing projects designed to solve the problems of the rich (i.e., where to find a parking lot) let’s build pedestrian lanes that will encourage people to walk and make walking enjoyable.
Really a pedestrianized Baguio will be a much better city. You know, a city with cleaner air, lesser traffic, and healthier people too.
Oops, by the way, isn’t the Baguio Centennial logo above kind of cool? Congratulations to whoever designed it.
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01.22.08Baguio Flyover to Open Without Her Highness
In the first place do we have to have her inaugurate everything? Like she has no more important things to do? But wait, she really has no more important things to do.
From the Inquirer:
Top public works officials will no longer wait for President Macapagal-Arroyo to open the city’s controversial flyover, whose construction she once tried to stop.The flyover “will open to all types of vehicles 14 days after Tuesday (Jan. 14),” which is Jan. 28, according to Public Works Undersecretary Ramon Aquino. It needed “further curing” over two weeks, he said.
Ms Arroyo’s schedule was no longer “an issue,” Aquino told the Inquirer on Friday, when he supervised a “final inspection” of the flyover together with the quality assessment team of the Department of Public Works and Highways.
INFO SOURCE: Inquirer. PHOTO CREDIT: Aldrin Zapata
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01.18.08Give Him Credit
Well, we’re sure you know that we’re not a fan of Baguio Congressman Mauricio Domogan (note: we used to like him when he was starting his political career) but we’re giving him credit for putting up a website which provides details on where his pork barrel is going. So let’s give the Congressman points for transparency. We hope that other Cordillera officials are just as transparent with their use of public funds so their constituents can see where these are being spent.
In the case of Congressman Domogan, click here if you like to see where he budgeted his pork barrel.
Now, it’s up to the people of Baguio to investigate if the projects listed by their Representative are worth the money that were supposedly poured into them. If they are, then we should give more points to Morris. If the projects turn out to be “for compliance only”, then we should deduct points from him.
What do you think?
IMAGE CREDIT: morrisdomogan.com
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01.16.08Land Scam in Baguio?
Ramon Tulfo is not my kind of columnist but he does have interesting “exposes” sometimes. In his December 22, 2007 column he writes about a Cordillera official who is reportedly selling Baguio ancestral lands.
Hah! If Tulfo’s story is true, we are totally clueless as to who this official is but maybe some of you know.
From Ramon Tulfo’s On Target:
During the time of President Marcos, a judge of the defunct Court of First Instance approved the titling of Burnham Park in Baguio City to a private person.
Up to now, that kind of scam is going on in Baguio City.
There is reportedly a racket in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources where ancestral lands of native tribes are auctioned off illegally.
The Court of Appeals recently nullified land auctions conducted by the DENR in Baguio, calling them scams.
An official of the Cordillera Autonomous Region, a professed close friend of a former Cabinet secretary, is reportedly selling ancestral lands of Igorot tribesmen in the City of Pines.
Secretary Lito Atienza, please look into this matter!
SOMEWHAT RELATED POST: The Biggest Landgrabber of Them All
INFO SOURCE: Inquirer.
