EDITORIAL – The most polluted city

Most Filipinos have fond memories of vacations spent in the country’s summer capital. Baguio, the City of Pines, was built by American colonial officials 100 years ago to escape from the stifling tropical heat of Manila. Around the recreation area developed for US troops a lovely community grew. Generations of Filipinos traversing scenic Kennon Road could tell immediately when they had reached the outskirts of the city from the bracing aroma of pines, dahlias and, at night, the haunting scent of dama de noche.

That pleasant experience, however, may now be lost to the next generations. Most of the pine trees of Baguio have been cut down at an alarming rate. The rapid depletion of the city’s trees has been blamed for the regular landslides and the worsening flooding in the city. The trees were cut down to make way for shanties, which now dot even the steepest slopes in Baguio. The booming population has also meant more vehicles. Gone are the scents of pine and flowers; these days toxic vehicular emissions greet visitors.

It’s almost like Metro Manila, except studies show that the pollution problem is even worse in Baguio. The study, undertaken nationwide by the World Bank in 2001, showed that Baguio was the most polluted urban center in the country, followed by Metro Manila, Cebu City and Davao City. World Bank country director Robert Vance Pulley said the problem in Baguio is costing the city some P500 million annually in health care.

This is alarming news for a city whose main industry is tourism. Visitors can put up with the squatters, garbage and dwindling water supply in Baguio, but if the city starts smelling like Metro Manila and other urban areas in the lowlands, why bother going up to the Cordilleras at all? The health care costs alone should persuade the people of Baguio City and the government to clean up the city and restore its precious attraction: the cool, fresh air.