Today in History: My Dad's Sacrifice (The 1990 Earthquake)

July 16, 1990.
The morning started on a regular ritual. Wake up, take a bath, change clothes, go to school. I was in 2nd grade back then. My brother was just 3 years of age.

My dad prepared to go to work, 20 kilometers away from where we live. He needs to catch the company service since it only comes to pick up workers once in every 3 or 4 hours. Two of my friends are already outside our corridor waiting for me since we need to walk few meters from our house to school. My mom is getting ready for a convention in Baguio. She will be bringing my younger brother since no one will baby sit for him.

It was 4 PM when we came home from school. My classmate, who's also a neighbor, has the same routine as I do. We bring out the dishes from early morning rush so we can wash it. Mind you, we were living in a bank house where kitchen sink and bathrooms are shared.

We were in the kitchen when we heard rumble from upstairs and the ground began to shake. We ran outside. People were crowding the streets. I'm with my neighbors and cousins who were just nearby. My parents haven't gone home yet. For the first time I felt I was alone.

After few hours, I can see my dad walking towards me, I ran and embraced him. He carried me in his arms and asked, "How are you?", "Are you hurt?", "What were you doing when you felt the earthquake?", "Is your mom and brother home yet?". I cried. I see his tears trying to come out but for some reason he was struggling to hide it. Now, at least I felt secured. 

These were the times when cellphones were not yet accessible by anyone else. Phones in our place were only made for local phone numbers. That was 3 or 4 digit dial to call the police, the clinic, the fire station, the barangay hall, etc. These were also the times when the roads were dusty and not cemented as we see right now.

Though we were advised to camp outside due to aftershocks, My dad and I preferred to sleep at home as what our neighbors did. He brought down every single item that can be broken and we slept in the living room.

The next day, I saw him talking to his cousin to look after me. He needs to go to Baguio to look for my brother and my mom. No vehicles risk to travel that day. No vehicles can even reach Philex due to landslides and falling rocks.

Despite the advisory that travelling maybe dangerous, my dad along with 2 others pushed on. They walked 20 kilometers from 745ml (yes that is the name of the place) to Philex. And trekked another 34 kilometers from Philex to Baguio. 

Road from Philex to Baguio during the 1990 earthquake.
This was taken after the clearing operation.

He searched every relative he knows from Baguio to Trinidad, every hospital, every morgue, even the famous Burnham Park to look for my brother and mother. After 3 days, he was able to find them and was able to come home. 

These are few of the memories I had where my dad would sacrifice for the sake of his family. And with these, I miss him more.. 

What Cellphones and Internet Failed to Provide History

Baguio. 
One's visit in the Philippines cannot be complete without visiting Baguio. This small city is know for strawberries, vegetables, friendly taxi drivers, ghosts, american-named parks, The Mansion, and cold weather. I, being a Baguio born is proud when people talk about this place.

Recently, the magnet of the place is slowly decreasing. Weather getting hot. Session Road being more commercialized with new buildings and establishments, the place becoming more crowded as the time goes by.

Crowd. People. Tourism
It's how the economy booms. More tourists more fun. Don't get me wrong. Tourists are not stereotyped as the foreigners visiting the place but also Filipinos from different parts of the country. Sad to say though that some landmarks of Baguio, has been continuously abused. 

Recently, a former teacher of mine noticed a "place" that with the most recent technology or gadgets, became "just a building". 

Calling the attention of the NATIONAL HISTORICAL INSTITUTE! Please consider declaring the Baguio Post Office as a HISTORICAL SITE. We will help you with documentations and other historical facts just don't allow the building to be mutilated, remodeled, covered with tenant's stores and rented out for financial gains. Let the people of Baguio preserve, manage and operate it for its historical value. Salasalamat Apo!

Cellphones, VOIP, Internet lessens the use of letters, postcards and stamp usage. Nowadays, the only letter I receive is coming monthly which is the bill for my cellphone usage. 

Below is an open letter to the President of the Republic of the Philippines for the request. 

June 6 2013

Dear Mr. President, By way of introduction, please allow me to start by stating that in Baguio, there used to be two imposing landmarks atop Session Road and one of them is the Baguio Post Office. Today, no one would seem to recognize the once important structure that connected people from different continents. Postal Offices around the world are considered historical monuments because of their significant contribution to the human race bridging people of various creeds and races in all four continents. But, what we have here in Baguio is far from what a global mindset considers as a monument. In the absence of what they used to offer as social telegrams, telegraphic transfer and others that are considered obsolete, perhaps the place can be put to good use as a communication show room that features postal services, stamp and telegraph exhibits, letters from notable personalities etc. including displays of media paraphernalia and the likes. Let me further emphasize that non performing government assets such as postal offices need not have to resort to commercialization or space rental in order to keep the facility maintained. Rather, it can be put to use and one alternative is to convert it into a public museum. Postmen used to say that they always ring twice but this time as a letter sender, I am ringing your bell to submit a proposal converting Baguio's dilapidated and non functioning postal office building into a world class Philippine Postal Museum to which I am offering my services for free. Please view the attached photos and slides for the proposal that I am respectfully submitting for your consideration. Thank you very much and I hope to receive a positive feedback on this. Very truly yours, JOEL ARTHUR P. TIBALDO Multi-media Artist and Curator of the Media NewseumBaguio CityMobile 09178458534

Now, here are some snapshots of what The Baguio Post Office have become. It contains restaurants, a beerhouse and some tiange. I believe, this is a public property. 

Seeing the landmark being misused, a friend of mine, my former teacher, Art Tibaldo would like to propose to turn this historic landmark to a Museum, A Philippine Postal Museum in Baguio. That would be great isn't it? One more thing, he's offering his services for free. 
Lets see what he has to say and hopefully, this proposal will have the voice of the people. 

"There used to be two imposing landmarks atop Session Road and one of them is the Baguio Post Office. Today, no one would seem to recognize the once important structure that connected people from different continents. This photo album shows just a glimpse of what many believe is a monument and symbol of human understanding and communication.
Postal Offices around the world are considered historical monuments because of their significant contribution to the human race bridging people of various creeds and races in all four continents. But, what we have here in Baguio is far from what a global mindset considers as a monument.
In the absence of what they used to offer as social telegrams, telegraphic transfer and others that are considered obsolete, perhaps the place can be put to good use as a communication show room that features postal services, stamp and telegraph exhibits, letters from notable personalities etc. including displays of media paraphernalia and the likes." -Art Tibaldo

"Prior to emails, cellphones and Skype, we relied heavily on hand-written letters as the primary means of communication with our Dad overseas. The Baguio Post Office was the bridge that connected our family across all those miles -- carrying messages of love and hope, allowing us to swap stories and remain close despite the physical distance between us." Kristel G. Sanchez

Art Tibaldo has collections of the past. I was in my second grade during the earthquake. I remember clearly what I was doing that time. Couple of years later, Mt. Pinatubo erupted.  I still was in my elementary years. Though he amazingly captured history in his own way. 

I SUPPORT THE 
BAGUIO POST OFFICE 

TO BE CONVERTED TO 

BAGUIO'S POSTAL MUSEUM.

To know more about Art Tibaldo, visit his facebook page: Art Tibaldo Newseum and let's support this proposal to keep hold of our own history and for the generation to look forward to. 
This proposal is where history won't be owned by the internet but rather owned by a heritage and its people. 

LOCAL 2013 ELECTION RESULTS: BENGUET

Source: Rappler.com

These pages show UNOFFICIAL ELECTION RESULTS for the 2013 Philippine National & Local Elections electronically sourced from the Comelec’s Transparency Server via the the Rappler Mirror Server. Log on to these pages and watch the results data update real time as new data is received from the electoral platform.