Baguio, a mountain town in the Benguet province on the island of Luzon, is famed as the “Summer Capital of the Philippines” and designated a UNESCO Creative City, bustling with tourism, education, culture, and a thriving economic zone.[1] This year marks its 115th ‘founding’ anniversary, celebrated annually on September 1 with festivities honoring its history and outstanding citizens.[2]
As the only colonial hill station in Asia under American colonial rule (1898-1946), Baguio served as a vital refuge for foreign administrators and remains a key tourist destination for Filipinos today.[3] However, despite continuous economic success, the town grapples with challenges like climate change, poverty, urban decay, land disputes, and cultural injustices that linger and impede its development.[4]
Historical Context and Indigenous Land Claims
Nestled roughly 128 miles from Manila, the capital of the Philippines, Baguio boasts an elevation ranging from 3,000 to 5,000 feet above sea level.[5] Its climate offers a relatively refreshing annual average temperature of 64.4oF, approximately 48.2 degrees cooler than most of the Philippine lowlands.[6] It is therefore unsurprising that both the Spanish and Americans were drawn to it. The town had brought relief not just from the excruciating heat of the tropical lowlands, but also from the challenges of colonial governance.[7] It contained “military recuperation facilities, promenade gardens, and other recreational conveniences” that suited the taste and lifestyle of both Filipino elites and American colonialists.[8]
Kafagway, the name for most of what is now Baguio, was owned by the Indigenous Ibaloy people. The name ‘Baguio’ likely comes from the Ibaloy word for ‘moss’ (bagiw), abundant in the area and adopted during American colonial rule.[9] Before this, the Spanish had tried but failed to get complete control of Kafagway due to the resistance of the Indigenous people. Historically known for swidden farming—a traditional practice of cutting and burning forest vegetation to create fertile soil for crops—and hunting, many Ibaloy elites also engaged in gold mining and cattle raising.[10] Most of Kafagway, the best grazing land in the area, was owned by an Ibaloy couple—Mateo and Bayosa Cariño.[11]
The colonialists’ initial, most trusted source on Kafagway was American professor Dean C. Worcester, who had conducted research in the country from 1887 to 1888 and again from 1890 to 1893, and wrote the book The Philippine Islands and Their People.[12] Worcester wrote of Luzon’s highlands, characterized by its perpetually temperate climate and densely forested mountains adorned with majestic oaks and pines.[13] After reading Worcester’s book, William McKinley, the 25th president of the United States between 1897 and 1901, invited him to be part of the colonial government in the Philippines.[14] It was Worcester who convinced the then Secretary of War Elihu Root to conduct an expedition to the mountains; and with the advice of William Howard Taft, first governor-general of the Philippines, Root proceeded to build the summer capital in Baguio, modeled on the “British Simla of the Himalayas.”[15]
On November 11, 1901, the American colonial government seized lands from the Ibaloy people by stating that their lands were in the way of the proposed government sites.[16] The owners were not only forced to sell their landholdings, but were also asked to register these with corresponding land surveys, a new concept for the Indigenous peoples. As they were not able to come up with land titles at the time that Baguio was declared as the summer capital in 1909, the Ibaloy people were thus both dispossessed of their lands and forced to leave these lands.[17]
According to historian Rebecca Tinio McKenna, Mateo Cariño had initially granted the government parts of his land, which became the city center of Baguio.[18] However, Cariño disagreed with the state’s claim to other portions of his lands, which had become known as Camp John Hay since becoming the colonial government’s military reservation camp.[19] Cariño contested this injustice in the U.S. Supreme Court in 1909 by suing the colonial government for ownership rights over Baguio’s land.[20] Though the court ruled in favor of Cariño, back in the Philippines, Baguio obtained chartered city status through Act No. 1963, thus enabling the colonial government’s claim over Ibaloy lands.[21] From their perspective, since Cariño had not secured the land titles, his land was in the public domain and thus under state jurisdiction.[22]
Baguio City’s Design: Reflections of Imperial Values and Ambitions
Baguio City’s design plan, drafted by Daniel Burnham and Peirce Anderson and mostly implemented by William E. Parsons, was published in October 1905 and directly linked to the City Beautiful Movement.[23] This urban planning philosophy focused on beautifying cities to promote civic virtue through parks, wide boulevards, and classical architecture, improving conditions, boosting community pride, and encouraging civic engagement.[24] Burnham, excited about designing ‘the Philippine Simla’ for the American colonial corps, visited Baguio briefly with Anderson in December 1904, possibly considering its potential for implementing their urban design vision.[25]
Taft, governor-general of the Philippines at the time, received the plan on behalf of the colonial government, which included Burnham’s proposal to adapt the street layout and infrastructure to suit the uneven topography of Kafagway’s hilly terrain, while also employing the “white city paradigm,” which embodied the ideals of the City Beautiful Movement.[26] This was characterized by a comprehensive urban design, featuring a grid system of streets complemented by radial boulevards, linear parks, and promenades.[27]
The planners’ vision simultaneously showcased colonial might, reflecting the government’s ambitions to expand their influence in the Philippines and Asia, as well as their negative evaluations of the Philippines—lacking “good sanitation, refreshing air, modernity, and civilization.”[28] Hence, Baguio exhibited an “ordered aesthetic and space,” but one that was tailored only to the interests of the U.S. imperial project.[29]
One notorious issue related to the historical urban planning of Baguio was the construction of the Benguet Road, since renamed Kennon Road, which connected the town to the lowlands of Luzon. During William Cameron Forbes’ tenure as the fifth governor-general of the colonial government, his administration faced accusations of lavish spending and mismanagement of funds in the development of Baguio and the Benguet Road.[30] Though Forbes defended himself through statements sent to Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Taft, he was still dismissed.[31] The Filipino press also persistently condemned the extensive expenses incurred for the development. An August 1911 Philippines Free Press editorial depicted Baguio as “Our White Elephant,” suggesting that the colonialists could only enjoy it as a comfortable retreat by exploiting Filipinos and their resources.[32]
The Struggle Continues
Despite the end of American colonization, traces of the colonial period persist in Baguio today. A stroll through the city reveals a distinctly American influence. From streets bearing names of American ‘founders’ like Governor Pack Road and Harrison Road to iconic landmarks such as Burnham Park and Camp John Hay, Baguio’s landscape still echoes its colonial past.
Today, the Ibaloy constitute a minority in the city that was once their own residence and grazing land, and the heirs of Kafagway’s original settlers continue their battle for ancestral land rights.[33] Though some victories have seen land titles returned to them in parts of the Philippines, the country’s Indigenous People’s Rights Act (IPRA) has ‘special’ provisions for the ancestral land claims in Baguio. Section 78 of the IPRA states:
The City of Baguio… shall still be governed by its own charter. All lands previously proclaimed as part of the City of Baguio’s Townsite Reservation shall remain as such.[34]
This means that Baguio’s territories during the colonial era remain so, perpetuating the Ibaloy struggle to secure claims amidst laws influenced by foreign and state interests. While there have been reclamation initiatives and commemorative gestures to recognize the Ibaloy struggles, the complexities of social and legal frameworks suggest that tangible change may lie beyond the realm of physical occupation.[35] Advocating for legal reforms to protect land rights is crucial, but equally important is raising awareness of the struggles and histories of the Indigenous people. This includes advocating for media coverage and integrating these issues into the Philippine formal education system.
As Baguio marks its 115th charter anniversary, we are reminded of the Ibaloy people’s century-long struggle and the enduring legacy of colonialism. Decisions made over a century ago still reverberate, impending Indigenous communities’ efforts to assert their rights and reclaim their lands.
[1] UNESCO, “Baguio City,” accessed May 22, 2024; ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, “Circular Baguio City,” accessed May 22, 2024.
[2] Liza Agoot, “Baguio to Celebrate Charter Day, Victory Day First Week of September,” accessed May 23, 2024.
[3] Ronald C. Estoque and Yuji Murayama, “Examining the potential impact of land use/cover changes on the ecosystem services of Baguio city, the Philippines: A scenario-based analysis,” Applied Geography, 35 no. 1-2 (2012): 316-326; Marshall S. McLennan, “Review of the book City of Pines: The Origins of Baguio as a Colonial Hill Station and Regional Capital, by R.R. Reed.” Journal of Asian Studies 37, no. 2 (1978): 400-402, accessed January 26, 2024.
[4] Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). “2022 Economic Performance of the City of Baguio.” Accessed May 2, 2024; Ian Morley, “Baguio: A Mismanaged Evolutionary Narrative of the City Beautiful to the City Problematic,” Asian Geographer 35 (2018): 1-19; Lord Byron F. Gonzales, “Urban sprawl: Extent and environmental impact in Baguio City, Philippines,” Spatium, 1 (2016): 7-14; Vincent Cabreza. “Ancestral land titles in Baguio forest voided.” Philippine Daily Inquirer, January 25, 2024, accessed May 2, 2024.
[5] Maria Cecilia R. Paringit, Miller DL. Cutora, Eleazar H. Santiago, and Mary Ann Q. Adajar, “Assessment of Landslide Susceptibility: A Case Study of Carabao Mountain in Baguio City” International Journal of GEOMATE 19, no. 71 (2020): 166-173.
[6] Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). “Climate of the Philippines,” accessed May 26, 2024.
[7] Scott Kirsch, “Aesthetic Regime Change: The Burnham Plans and US Landscape Imperialism in the Philippines,” Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints 65 (2017): 315-356; Angela C. Villarba-Torres, “Baguio City and the Politics of Space: Creativity and Innovation in a Globalizing World,” Explorations in Media Ecology 12, no. 1 (2013): 71-81, accessed January 26, 2024.
[8] Esteban T. Magannon, “Review of City of Pines: The Origins of Baguio as a Colonial Hill Station and Regional Capital, by Robert R. Reed,” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 9 (1978): 156-159, accessed January 26, 2024.
[9] Jimmy Balud Fong, “Ibaloy’s ‘Reclaiming’ Baguio: The Role of Intellectuals,” Plaridel 14, no. 2 (2017): 49-73, accessed January 26, 2024.
[10] Villarba-Torres, “Baguio City and the Politics of Space,” 72.
[11] Villarba-Torres, “Baguio City and the Politics of Space,” 72.
[12] Mary Anne Alabanza Akers, “Locating Health and Place: Historical and Contemporary Case of Baguio City,” essay, in Urban Environments and Health in the Philippines: A Retrospective on Women Street Vendors and Their Spaces (New York: Routledge, 2021), 35–50, 39.
[13] Akers, “Locating Health and Place,” 40.
[14] Akers, “Locating Health and Place,” 39.
[15] Akers, “Locating Health and Place,” 40; Ronald M. Spector, “W. Cameron Forbes in the Philippines: A Study in Proconsular Power.” Journal of Southeast Asian History 7, no. 2 (1966): 74-92, accessed January 26, 2024; Fong, “Ibaloy’s ‘Reclaiming’ Baguio,” 58.
[16] Cabreza, “How the Ibaloi lost their land.”
[17] Act No. 1963, An Act to Incorporate the City of Baguio and For Other Purposes, United States Philippine Commission § Section 1-2 (1909), accessed January 26, 2024; Cabreza, “How the Ibaloi lost their land.”
[18] Rebecca Tinio McKenna, “Igorot squatters and Indian wards: Toward an intra-imperial history of land dispossession,” The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era 18, no. 2 (2019): 221-239, accessed January 26, 2024.
[19] McKenna, “Igorot squatters and Indian,” 223.
[20] Cariño v. Insular Government, 212 U.S. 449 (1909), accessed January 26, 2024.
[21] McKenna, “Igorot squatters and Indian,” 224.; Act No. 1963, 1-2.
[22] McKenna, “Igorot squatters and Indian,” 224.
[23] Daniel Immerwahr, “The Iron Hand of Power: US Architectural Imperialism in the Philippines,” Architectural History 64 (2021): 163–86; Ian Morley, “Baguio: The United States’ City Beautiful in the Philippine Uplands,” in Cities and Nationhood: American Imperialism and Urban Design in the Philippines, 1898-1916 (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2021), 86-114; Kirsch, “Aesthetic Regime Change,” 330.
[24] Jon A. Peterson, “The City Beautiful Movement: Forgotten Origins and Lost Meanings,” Journal of Urban History 2, no. 4 (1976): 415-434.
[25] Kirsch, “Aesthetic Regime Change,” 329-330.
[26]Thomas S. Hines, “The Imperial Façade: Daniel H. Burnham and American Architectural Planning in the Philippines,” Pacific Historical Review 41, no. 1 (February 1972): 49; Fong, “Ibaloy’s ‘Reclaiming’ Baguio,” 58.
[27] Magannon, “Review of City of Pines,” 158.
[28] Kirsch, “Aesthetic Regime Change,” 324; Rebecca Tinio McKenna, “Introduction,” in American Imperial Pastoral: The Architecture of US Colonialism in the Philippines (Quezon City, Philippines: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2019), 15.
[29] Kirsch, “Aesthetic Regime Change,” 324.
[30] Peter W. Stanley, “William Cameron Forbes: Proconsul in the Philippines,” Pacific Historical Review 35, no, 3 (August 1966): 295.
[31] Spector, “W. Cameron Forbes,” 87.
[32] Shinzo Hayase, “The Continuing Japanese Myth on ‘Benguet Migrants’ in the Philippines: Colonial Baguio City, Migrants WWII, and a Hidden Dispute,” Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives 58, no. 1 (2022): 25.
[33] Fong, “Ibaloy’s ‘Reclaiming’ Baguio,” 61; Harley Palangchao, “Ibaloys Assert Ancestral Land Rights While Fighting a Century of Injustice,” Baguio Midland Courier, September 3, 2023.
[34] Republic of the Philippines, Congress of the Philippines, The Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997, Republic Act No. 8371, § 78 (1997).
[35] Fong, “Ibaloy’s ‘Reclaiming’ Baguio,” 61, 69.
*Cover image: “Panoramic view of Baguio: Benguet – 1900; 1823; 1900,” in the digital collection Philippine Photographs Digital Archive, Special Collections Research Center, University of Michigan Library, accessed June 18, 2024, University of Michigan Library Digital Collections.
[*Cover image description: A sepia landscape image of three huts, rolling hills behind them and a further settlement of huts in the distance with a caption “Panoramic view of Bagiuo, Benguet 1900.”]
Geri Mae Tolentino
Geri’s love for history, culture, and the environment inspired her to earn master’s degrees in Environmental Science and Asian Studies from the University of the Philippines. Currently, she is a Ph.D. student in Environmental Science at the State University of New York-College of Environmental Science and Forestry, supported by a Fulbright-CHED Ph.D. scholarship. Her research explores the colonial legacies embedded in green spaces, investigating decolonization strategies that address these landscapes’ visual, cultural, and ecological dimensions.
Ellen Oettinger White
Dr. Ellen Oettinger White studies the environmental effects of transportation policy, practice, and infrastructure using spatial analysis and quantitative methods. She also conducts qualitative research in decision-making and interdisciplinary collaboration in transportation, planning, and allied fields. Prior to entering academia, Ellen spent a decade practicing as an urban designer and transportation planner. She is secretary of the Transportation Research Board’s Landscape and Environmental Design Committee and was a 2021-22 Landscape Architecture Foundation Fellow for Innovation and Leadership. Ellen completed her PhD and Master of Landscape Architecture at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and received her Master of Urban Planning from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Edited by Sindi-Leigh McBride; reviewed by Deniz Karakaş.