JDV’s advice to Du30/ Baguio Country Club still tops

I’ve not seen a more multitudinous crowd than the one that attended the Bangus Festival in Dagupan City Sunday evening. The six-kilometer De Venecia highway was thick with about 700,000 warm bodies, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) vans and a handful of private vehicles bearing VIPs had to be escorted by motorcycle-riding cops to get through. On both sides of the road were scores of food stalls where fresh bangus (milkfish) was grilled and gobbled up by the hungry multitude – at lower than usual prices. A few feet off the road were several platforms upon which celebrities performed and conducted contests for mostly millennial participants. It was a night of fun and thrills not only for Dagupaneos, but also for residents of outlying towns and sitios, from far off Baguio City and Manila, and balikbayans from the US of A. The Guinness Book of Records is said to have recorded the event as the biggest grilled fish event.

The main proponent of the event was Dagupan City Mayor Belen Fernandez, although the organizer of the first events that have become a yearly festivity was House Speaker Joe de Venecia. A top attraction last Sunday was Kristopher de Venecia, a young, bright and articulate congressman of the 4th district of Pangasinan which is composed of Dagupan City and the municipalities of Mangaldan, Manaoag, San Fabian and San Jacinto. Seated at a table under a tent were Sen. Sonny Angara,  and Kris’ parents – Joe de Venecia and former Congresswoman Gina de Venecia – and uncle Oscar de Venecia and his wife, and PRC Governor Saeed A. Daof.

I asked Joe or JDV, if he has plans of returning to Congress. He smiled and shook his head. “I have more work now than during the five times I was House speaker.” Indeed he is involved in getting international parliamentarians together to achieve peace – a job it seems no other Filipino has accomplished. 

He is chair of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICCPP) composed of more than 300 ruling opposition and independent parties in Asia. The Communist Party of China and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s party have representatives in the organization’s board of directors. Last December De Venecia  was chosen in Washington DC as chair of the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP), together with Dan Burton of the US House of Representatives as co-chair. “We launched the IAPP in capitals of Asia, Europe, the Americas and Africa during the  last ten months,” said De Venecia.

He does have (unsolicited though they may be) suggestions for the President. First, the President should consider making use of his popular acceptance level to create “a government for national unity, give the other political parties Cabinet seats, and slots for the MILF, MNLF.”

The President, he said, should move for the conversion of the present system of government to  the federal parliamentary system; solve the MNLF-MILF conflict once and for all, and settle the peace agreement with the NPA and the CPP; create and enlarge a middle class nationwide, and put an end to the increased gap between the right and poor. “Currently more than 50 percent of Filipinos are still living in semi-poverty,” he said. “We ask President Duterte to cut that to 10 percent.”

De Venecia views massive nationwide reforestation as the antidote to climate change, as well as creating jobs for six million Filipinos. He said 20 percent should be fruit trees, and the rest to provide materials for national housing, export furniture, and construction materials.

He suggests the drug problem should be considered an Asia-wide and global problem. In which case a global anti-drug summit should be held; he had proposed this idea to Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto because Mexico  had become “a major entry point of drugs to different countries.”

“We must globalize support for Duterte’s strong anti-drug campaign in the Philippines which at times are twisted in global media. There is need to link the campaign with the efforts to clamp down on the opium golden triangle along the banks of the Mekong River in Southeast Asia, which includes Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and parts of Cambodia. Together, ASEAN countries should work closely with the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to destroy the massive opium plantations in Afghanistan, the biggest opium producer in the world, which, together with opium growers in South Asia, are the biggest supplier of narcotics in Europe and Asia.”

* * *

Since its founding in 1905 by Gov. Gen. William Cameron Forbes the Baguio Country Club (BCC) remains as one of the most prestigious places for vacation and leisure in the country. The 27-hectare facility in Baguio City, sitting atop the Benguet mountain ranges in the Cordillera region, is endowed with a cold climate that does good for its luxuriant vegetation and nice-smelling pine trees, and is surrounded by a gently undulating emerald green 18-hole golf course. Small wonder the Department of Tourism rates it as the first and only five-star mountain resort in the country. 

BCC is a mix of club and hotel. About 20 percent of the 2,100 members are golfers; the rest enjoy the ambiance and services rendered by the resort: 167 well-furnished rooms, 14 individual cottages for families; a highly rated restaurant; a convention center (site of the 2017 Ms. Universe presentation in the city), a bowling alley, a swimming pool and an infinity garden for special events. Because of the green practices, BCC received the Asian Green Hotel Award in 2014-2016, and 2016-2018. 

Membership in the exclusive club is strictly approved by the board of directors and general membership. Requirements, among them good moral character, are stiff, and a few applications, BCC general manager Anthony de Leon told me, have not been found acceptable. The board members have themselves passed through a prism of scrutiny. Chair emeritus is Rodolfo Albano; chairman of the board is Rico Agcaoili, president is Victoria de los Reyes (who is the club’s first female president), and directors are Sylvia Kalaw Illusorio Yap; Erlinda Illusorio Bildner, Jose Roman Ozaeta and Juan Carlos del Rosario. 

BCC prides itself in being a non-profit corporation that plows back its earnings to improvements of facilities. Recently constructed are three paths for golf carts ( with 15 more to be added) – in answer to the demand of elderly golfers, said De Leon.

A new outdoor plexi-paved tennis court will soon be put up, in place of the original indoor tennis court which has been converted into the multi-purpose Cordillera convention hall.

The five cottages will soon be renovated, and next year, the whole wing of the club and its 112 units will be renovated. 

Each year, a project is being introduced, said de Leon. Under discussion is the utilization of five remaining hectares of the BCC. Also, the changing of roofing materials and repairs of parts of the main building are constantly being undertaken. In the planning stage are a condotelle, water source facilities, an ecumenical chapel, and 15 log cabins.

All improvements are decided by a construction and renovation committee headed by Sylvia Ilusurio who is also chair of the executive committee.

Making members happy is the BCC’s major concern. In addition to improved physical facilities, the committees plan golf tournaments and social activities – from Thanksgiving  and New Year’s Eve celebrations to pop concerts and rock and roll jam sessions. No wonder people love going to BBC for golf and socializing.

* * *

Email: [email protected]