History

Pre-colonial period

Baguio used to be a vast mountain zone with lush highland forests, teeming with various wildlife
such as the indigenous deer, cloud rats, Philippine eagles, Philippine warty pigs, and numerous
species of flora. The area was a hunting ground of the indigenous peoples, notably the Ibalois
and other Igorot ethnic groups. When the Spanish arrived in the Philippines, the area was never
fully subjugated by Spain due to the intensive defense tactics of the indigenous Igorots of the
Cordilleras.[15]

Igorot oral history states the Benguet upper class, baknang, was founded between 1565 and the
early 1600s, by the marriage of a gold trader, Amkidit, and a Kankanay maiden gold panning in
Acupan. Their son, Baruy, discovered a gold deposit in the area, which he developed with hired
workers and slaves.[15]

Spanish colonial period

In 1755, the Augustinian Fray Pedro de Vivar established a mission in Tonglo (Tongdo) outside
Baguio. Before he was driven out the following year, this rancheria included 220 people,
including several baknang families. The Spanish tried to regain the mission in 1759, but were
ambushed. This prompted the Governor General Pedro Manuel de Arandía Santisteban to send
Don Manuel Arza de Urrutia on a punitive expedition, which resulted in the mission being
burned to the ground.[15]: 477–478 

During the period of Spanish rule in 1846, the Spaniards established a comandancia in the
nearby town of La Trinidad, and organized Benguet into 31 rancherías, one of which was
Kafagway, a wide grassy area where the present Burnham Park is situated. Kafagway was then a
minor rancheria consisting of only about 20 houses. Most of the lands in Kafagway were owned
by Mateo Cariño, who served as its chieftain.[16] The Spanish presidencia, which was located at
Bag-iw at the vicinity of Guisad Valley was later moved to Cariño's house where the current city
hall stands. Bag-iw, a local term for "moss" once abundant in the area was spelled by the
Spaniards as Baguio, which served as the name of the rancheria.[10][17]

During the Philippine Revolution in July 1899, Filipino revolutionary forces under Pedro Paterno
liberated La Trinidad from the Spaniards and took over the government, proclaiming Benguet as
a province of the new Philippine Republic. Baguio was converted into a "town", with Mateo
Cariño being the presidente (mayor).

American colonial period

Summer offices of the Philippine Insular Government in Baguio in 1909

Aerial view of Baguio, 1937

When the United States occupied the Philippines after the Spanish–American War, Baguio was
selected to become the summer capital of the then Philippine Islands. Governor-General William
Taft, on his first visit in 1901, noted the "air as bracing as Adirondacks or Murray Bay..."[18]: 317–319 

In 1903, Filipinos, Japanese and Chinese workers were hired to build Kennon Road, the first
road directly connecting Baguio with the lowlands of La Union and Pangasinan. Before this, the
only road to Benguet was Naguilian Road, and it was largely a horse trail at higher elevations.
[citation needed]
Camp John Hay was established in October 1903, after President Theodore Roosevelt
signed an executive order setting aside land in Benguet for a military reservation for the United
States Army to rest and recuperate from the lowland heat.[19][20] It was named after Roosevelt's
Secretary of State, John Milton Hay.

The Mansion, built in 1908, served as the official residence of the American Governor-General
during the summer to escape Manila's heat. The Mansion was designed by architect William E.
Parsons based on preliminary plans by architect Daniel Burnham.[21]

Burnham, one of the earliest successful modern city planners, designed the mountain retreat
following the tenets of the City Beautiful movement. In 1904, the rest of the city was planned out
by Burnham. On September 1, 1909, Baguio was declared as a chartered city and nicknamed the
"Summer Capital of the Philippines".[22]
The succeeding period saw further developments of and in Baguio with the construction of
Wright Park in honor of Governor-General Luke Edward Wright, Burnham Park in honor of
Burnham, Governor Pack Road, and Session Road.

World War II

General Yamashita (center, on the near side of the table) at the

Prior to World War II, Baguio was the summer capital of the Commonwealth of the Philippines,
and the home of the Philippine Military Academy.[24] As such, it was very important in military
and political terms. Philippine President Manuel Quezon was even in Baguio when the war
began.

On December 8, 1941, 17 Japanese bombers attacked Camp John Hay,[25]: 291 as part of the first
Japanese air raid on Luzon.[26] Baguio was declared an open city in December 27.[27]

Following the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in 1941, the Imperial Japanese Army used
Camp John Hay, an American installation in Baguio, as a military base.[28] The nearby Philippine
Constabulary base, Camp Holmes, was used as an internment camp for about 500 civilian enemy
aliens, mostly Americans, between April 1942 and December 1944.[29][30]

By late March 1945, Baguio was within range of the American and Filipino military artillery.[31]
Between March 4 and 10, United States Fifth Air Force planes dropped 933 tons of bombs and
1,185 gallons of napalm on Baguio, reducing much of the city to rubble.[32] President José P.
Laurel of the Second Philippine Republic, a puppet state established in 1943, departed the city on
March 22 and reached Taiwan eight days later, on March 30.[31] The remainder of the Second
Republic government, along with Japanese civilians, were ordered to evacuate Baguio on March
30. General Tomoyuki Yamashita and his staff then relocated to Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya.[33]

A major offensive to capture Baguio did not occur until April 1945, when the USAFIP-NL's 1st
Battalion of the 66th Infantry, attached with the United States Army's 37th Infantry Division, the
USAFIP-NL's 2nd Battalion of 66th Infantry, attached with the US 33rd Infantry Division, and
the USAFIP-NL's 3rd Battalion of the 66th Infantry, converged on Baguio. By April 27, 1945,
the city was liberated and the joint force moved on to liberate the Trinidad valley.[25]
Baguio is the site of the formal surrender of General Yamashita and Vice Admiral Okochi at
Camp John Hay's American Residence in the presence of lieutenant generals Arthur Percival and
Jonathan Wainwright.[34]

Post-World War II

An office building along Session Road destroyed by artillery

Baguio ceased to be the official "Summer Capital of the Philippines" in 1976.[35]

In the wake of the Snap Presidential elections of 1986 antidictatorship organizers were based
largely in the Azotea Building midway up Session Road, and in Cafe Amapola further up
Session, on its intersection with Governor Pack road. Because the United States' Armed Forces
Radio and Television Network station at Camp John Hay was transmitting news from Manila,
they learned early on that the People Power revolution had begun in Manila. Deciding that their
locations were too unsafe, they encamped in the courtyard of the Baguio Cathedral, which was
located on higher ground.[36] They were later joined by Lt. Benjamin Magalong, of the Philippine
Constabulary detachment in Buguias, Benguet,[37] who had defected from the government, gone
to the nearby Central Police Station in Baguio, and disarmed its personnel to prevent any
untoward incidents while Baguio residents continued to gather at the cathedral to protest the
abuses of the Marcos administration.[37] The Baguio Cathedral, and Session Road adjacent to it,
thus became the center of the People Power revolution in Baguio - paralleling similar protests in
Cebu, Davao, Bacolod, Manila, and other major Philippine cities, eventually leading to the ouster
of President Ferdinand Marcos on February 25, 1986.[36]

On July 15, 1987, President Corazon Aquino issued Executive Order 220 which created the
Cordillera Administrative Region,[38][39] and made the highly urbanized city of Baguio its seat of
government.[11] Various attempts at legally turning the Cordillera Administrative Region into an
autonomous region have been pursued, but failed to gather enough public support in two separate
autonomy plebiscites.[40]

The 1990 Luzon earthquake (Ms = 7.7) destroyed some parts of Baguio and the surrounding
province of Benguet on the afternoon of July 16, 1990.[41] A significant number of buildings and
infrastructure were damaged, including the Hyatt Terraces Plaza, Nevada Hotel, Baguio Park
Hotel, FRB Hotel and Baguio Hilltop Hotel; major highways were temporarily blocked due to
landslides and pavement breakup; and a number of houses were leveled or severely shaken with
numerous casualties.[42] Some of the fallen buildings were built on or near fault lines; local
architects later admitted structural building codes should have been followed more religiously,
particularly regarding concrete and rebar standards, and "soft stories." Baguio has been rebuilt
with aid from the national government and international donors such as Japan, Singapore and the
United States.

Tourism
Further information: List of Cultural Properties of the Philippines in the Cordillera
Administrative Region

Burnham Park Lake

Tourism is one of Baguio's main industries due to its cool climate and history. The city is one of
the country's top tourist destinations. During the year end holidays some people from the
lowlands prefer spending their vacation in Baguio, to experience cold temperatures they rarely
have in their home provinces. Also, during summer, especially during Holy Week, tourists from
all over the country flock to the city. During this time, the total number of people in the city
doubles.[109] To accommodate all these people there are more than 80 hotels and inns available, as
well as numerous transient houses set up by the locals.[110] Local festivities such as the
Panagbenga Festival also attracts both local and foreign tourists.[111]

Baguio is the lone Philippine destination in the 2011 TripAdvisor Traveller's Choice
Destinations Awards (Asia category) with the city being among the top 25 destinations in Asia.
[112]
Burnham Park, Mines View Park, Wright Park, The Mansion, and Botanical Garden are
among the popular tourist sites in Baguio.