BAGUIO PHILIPPINES

Baguio Philippines, Benguet province, North West Luzon, the Philippines. Baguio is the summer capital of the country, with many government buildings. It is also a noted mountain resort situated in beautiful pine forests and is the center of a major gold-producing area. The city is noted for the wood carvings of its Igorot aborigines. Nearby, at Lepanto, are important copper mines, and there is a major hydroelectric development on the Agno River. Originally settled by the Spanish, Baguio developed only after the American occupation, when a modern city was laid out (1909) by Daniel H. Burnham and roads were built (the first in 1913) to connect it with the main highways. The city was captured early (Dec., 1941) in World War II by Japanese land forces. Baguio is the seat of the national Philippine Military Academy, the Univ. of Baguio, and St. Louis University.

Baguio City; a first class highly urbanized city in northern Luzon in the Philippines. Baguio City was established by the Americans in 1900 and created by the Philippine Assembly as the Summer Capital of the Philippines on June 1, 1903. There is a presidential mansion, and Supreme Court and legislative offices in Baguio. Additionally, Baguio is the seat of government of the Cordillera Administrative Region.

Geography

Baguio City occupies 49 square kilometers of hilly land on a plateau about 1,500 meters high in the southwestern portion of the Cordillera Central mountain range in northern Luzon. It is completely surrounded by the province of Benguet in which the city used to be a town of before being made into an independent city. The city is bordered by the municipality of Tuba to the south and west, by Itogon to the east, and by Benguet's capital, La Trinidad to the north.

The three main access roads leading to Baguio from the lowlands are Kennon Road, Marcos Highway, and Naguilian Highway. Kennon Road starts from Rosario, La Union and winds its way through a narrow and steep valley. This road is the fastest route to Baguio but is the most dangerous with frequent landslides during the rainy season. Marcos Highway, which starts from Agoo, La Union, and Naguilian Highway, which starts from Bauang, La Union, are more roundabout routes but are much safer than Kennon Road and are the preferred routes for coaches, buses and lorries.

Philippines Flights

Commercial jet aircraft are not able to land at the Loakan Airport since it has a runway which is of limited length. The airport can only be accessed by a propeller-driven aircraft.

Currently Asian Spirit flies daily from Manila to Baguio, which is a 50-minute flight. The plane departs the domestic airport in Manila at 9:45 am and arrives at the Loakan Airport at 10:35 am. It then flies back to Manila at 11:05 am. Flights to Baguio are scheduled only in the morning as visibility approaches zero in the afternoon when the fog starts to move in and cover most of the area surrounding the airport.

Land transport

It takes an average of six hours to travel the 250-km distance between Manila and Baguio by way of Kennon Road. It is about fifteen minutes longer through Marcos Highway and could take three more hours when going through Naguilian Road. Kennon Road is occasionally blocked by landslides during the rainy season and the same problems also occur at the other two access roads. The route to Baguio through Kennon Road is as scenic as it is dangerous. There is another access to Baguio from Aritao in the province of Nueva Vizcaya but this is less traveled, the road is not well maintained, and public transportation through this route is not as regular. Another road, Halsema Road (also known as "Mountain Trail" leads north through the mountainous portion of the Cordillera Autonomous Region. It starts at northern border of Baguio, in the Municipality of Trinidad (Trinidad Valley), also known as the "Salad Bowl" of Luzon.

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