Switching On the Sun

Don’t be a stranger in your own city... much like how Baguio folks apparently shun away from its biggest festival, the Panagbenga (not to mention, long weekends) ... Attributed to various reasons, quite a degree of pessimism has been insinuated on Baguio City’s seeming suffocating situation. Deteriorating environment, worsening traffic, wavering peace and order, et al. All of which alienate people from the essence of Baguio’s good-natured environs. Most of which are unfortunately imputed to the booming tourism and the local government, corresponding with Baguio’s trade and commerce... By people, it’s from either side of the spectrum. Local folks generalize tourists and outsiders/traders as the unwanted visitors. Whereas among tourists, Baguio isn’t as welcoming as it was (or as they were)... Come on Baguio peeps! It’s the Summer Capital of the Philippines . We can’t take pride how inviting our city is without sharing it. How can we lay claim on such general perception of our Ba...

Truth be told as I’ve pointed out from a previous post how Baguio peeps seem impassive over celebrities, it’s not the manifestation of condescension but more on our respect for their privacy commensurate to that of our reservedness. That’s from a personal standpoint at least or from how I’ve known Baguio people to be from way back... Considering how we don’t know these celebrities personally, it’s unfair to rather assume that they have our apathy coming. Thus, having been invited to a press conference at Forest House for GMA’s upcoming reality TV for a singing competition kind of a show ‘The Clash’, there was an apparent “clash” of thoughts going on in my head as well on how I’d be addressing questions as much as how “that Baguio person” in me will still be as composed conversing with the show’s host, no less than the Asia’s Songbird herself Ms. Regine Velasquez-Alcasid. Being the big star that she is, my initial supposition was if she’s some prima donna who’d most likely come in as...