Marcos Mansions Eyed
as a Tourist Hub
A proposal from a Baguio City councilor to turn the Marcos mansions in
this city into a tourist hub is facing bright prospects, with a PCGG
lawyer expressing openness to the idea.
BY ACE ALEGRE
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
PROSPECTIVE TOURIST SPOT: One of the Marcos mansions in
Baguio City
PHOTO BY ACE
ALEGRE |
BAGUIO CITY – It was perhaps the first time in 20 years that the Marcos
Baguio Mansions were opened to “strangers.” The experience was
exhilarating.
Nestled along a scenic hill overlooking the mining town of Itogon along
Outlook Drive here and only a stone’s throw away from the Mansion House,
the president’s official residence, the JY
Campos-registered mansion touted as Ferdinand and Imelda’s Baguio posh
getaway then, invited wide eyes and admiration.
It was a sight that even Baguio residents could only dream of seeing. |
But when we went there recently with lawyer Ernest Jay Miguel, director
for legal affairs of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG)
upon the invitation of Baguio Councilor Perlita Chan-Rondez, the often
very tight security guards turned friendly and accommodating.
The “JY Campos mansion” is by all indication grandiose. Some of its
ceilings though were torn by water sipping through the ceiling affecting
most of its huge rooms including a dark orange room that looked like it
was used by Imelda.
Walking though the half-spiral wooden stairs to the second floor was
equally regal. Though most of its carpets are worn out, walking inside
the wood-enamored mansion would eventually turn anyone to feel like a
prince or princes, or perhaps a king or queen.
But truly, it was meant for a king. It was Marcos’.
Each mansion was clustered on the vast rolling hill of around 5.5 hectares
for the Marcos
couple – Ferdinand and Imelda; Imee, now Ilocos Norte congresswoman;
Ferdinand Jr. or Bongbong, now Ilocos Norte’s governor; and another one
for Marcos’ mother Doña Josefa.
For the PCGG, these are known as Menzi, Wygwam, JY Campos, another one
without structure and another one which was sold already.
Miguel had confirmed that one of the five “surrendered” assets of the
Marcoses in Baguio was sold six years ago to Eagle Cement, a firm
supposedly owned by former Marcos ambassador Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco.
This 27,000-sq. m. property was sold for P226 million, according to
retired Swiss mechanical engineer Peter Ernst who had done work at the
Registry of Deeds in Baguio. For years, Ernst who lives nearby had been
interested in introducing development in the area that, when integrated
along the Mines View Park, could be Baguio’s new tourism pride.
Like Germany
Rondez says that the
Marcos mansions could be turned into a tourist hub like what Germany did
to the relics of its Nazi past. “The people should learn the past and not
repeat it,” Rondez, who chairs the city council’s tourism, explained.
More than two years ago, Ernst and several other Baguio originals living
along the area, in fact considered as Baguio’s Green Area (where Pine
trees are still thick), petitioned the city government for an East Baguio
Tourism Project and a detailed plan for an eco-park was crafted.
This included the Mines View Park which was then considered for delisting
by the Department of Tourism (DoT) because of its unsightly disrepair and
all the way to the Wright Park.
The petition fell on deaf ears, lamented Ernst. “It is good that something
now can be started with the PCGG and someone from the city government is
facing it,” he said.
Now, with Baguio
losing many tourism arrivals because of the diminishing attractiveness of
the highland resort city compared to other areas, the tourism project can
be an additional showcase for tourists to come back again to Baguio, said
Rondez.
“Laudable effort”
Miguel lauds the project. The PCGG, he said, will have to evaluate and
ascertain the viability of turning these “surrendered” properties into
projects that are sustainable instead of just being there.
On the eve of Sept. 21, the 34th anniversary of the declaration of Martial
Law, when I and Rondez peeped at Number 44 (JY Campos mansion), Visayan
Beatriz Balugas who since 2000 had been living in “Imee’s mansion” readily
said, “Sayang” (What a waste) She was obviously disheartened by
what had happened to these posh structures.
Miguel said the PCGG en banc will decide on the fate of these
mansions depending on how the city government can present a comprehensive
proposal that is attractive to PCGG.
Transfer of these properties, as earlier proposed by Rondez in her
resolution before the city council, may not be attractive to the PCGG in
the sense that a sale is more inviting “because the gain for the
government treasury is immediate.”
The sale, said Miguel, will benefit CARP.
“But looking forward, baka nga mas profitable ang park
kesa sale” (a park may really be more profitable than a sale), Miguel
said. The government might think that a park that is doing business while
still in the hands of the government is more beneficial rather than a
sale, he explained.
Rondez assured she will push for the city to speed up the comprehensive
proposal with non-government parties like Ernst participating in a yet
noble endeavor to help the fledging tourism industry in the city.
“The city wants to
have this and doesn’t want to lose this as a piece of history,” she
assured Miguel who in turn said it had been done in Tacloban City, Leyte,
where a Marcos surrendered asset is now a major tourist come-on. Nordis
/ Bulatlat
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