Infrastructure and Utilities

Baguio City can be reached from the lowland areas via three (3) national roads namely; Quirino Highway better known as Naguilian, Kennon Road and Marcos Highway. However, Kennon Road is open to light vehicles only. It can also be reached from the northern highland areas via the Ambuclao Road and the Halsema Highway.

These highways and major arteries lead centrally to the Central Business District (CBD), which makes the traffic circulation system very inefficient.

As of year 2000, the city’s mad system total 333.283 kilometers, of which 28 percent are classified as national roads, 39.71 percent are city roads and the remaining 3228 percent are barangay roads. (Table 2D-1). Total length of city roads was decreased while national road have increased. An aggregate length of 36 kilometers of city roads have been converted to national roads and are now within the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). This is based on Department Orders 61 and 184 issued by the Secretary of the DPWH pursuant to the provisions of Executive Order No. 113, series of 1955, as amended by Executive Order No. 621, series of 1980 and Ministry Order No. 24, series of 1984. The specific roads are listed as Annex “A”.

Table: Road Network Baguio City, 2000

Data Source: DPWH Baguio Eng'g. District City Engineer's Office

About 94.68% (315363 k of the city's mad is already paved with either concrete or asphalt Some 17.72 kms. of barangay roads has yet to be improved

The concentration of urban services at the Central Business District is the major cause of traffic congestion. This problem is aggravated by uncontrolled parking within the Central Business District and the lack of parking areas.

In terms of population Baguio City is still considered poorly serviced as indicated by its road density of 1.32 Km. per 1,000 populations, which is way below the 2.4 standard ratio. This can be attributed to the very high annual population growth rate of 4.9% from 1990 to 1995 and 2.3% from 1995 to 2000 vis-a-vis the city's limited land area.

By geographic standards, Baguio City is highly accessible as indicated by its road density of 519 kms. per square kilometer.

There are 30 bridges with a. total length of 955.63 linear meters in various parts of the city. This already includes the two (2) west and east flyover at Magsaysay Avenue and pedestrian overpass bridges that were constructed to solve the problems on vehicle as well as pedestrian traffic.

Database management on the city's road system is not yet established. This can only be realized upon the conduct of inventory of the city's existing roads that will include, among others, information on width of carriageway including sidewalk and type of road pavements.

The following table presents the road requirement by year based on standards as a result of population increase. By the year 2003, it reveals that we lack roads by as much as 100 percent. However, considering the very limited land area of the city, the required length of road may not be fully achieved. Traffic and transportation development may well be managed through formulation of a road development master plan, which projects the city's efficient transportation system.

Table: Road requirement, by year, 2001 -2005

The city is regularly serviced by the Asian Spirits YS 11 plane (60 seats) daily, except Tuesday and Thursday via the Loakan airport. The length of the existing runway has been extended by 70 meters. Other facilities include; control tower, airways navigation system, fire dept/crash & rescue team, and airport security unit. There is a need to attract airlines to operate in the city. Schedule of flights are preferred during daytime until 900 AM. due to the occurrence of fogs and clouds at a later time.

The perimeter of the airport is not enclosed/fenced hence, the possibilities of stray animals entering the runway, which poses danger to landing aircrafts. The runway is being utilized as an access road by residents in the vicinity. The crossing of pedestrians/vehicles along the runway hampers the smooth flow of the airport operation.

According to the Land Transportation Office, there are total 21,937 vehicles registered in the city in 2000. 73.45% of these total are private cars, while 23.71 % are public utility vehicles. The remaining 2.84%are government-owned. Many public utility vehicles are in poor condition and contribute to air pollution. There are still a lot of public utility vehicles that do not have garage hence these are parked along roads and sidewalks. The smooth flow of vehicular traffic is often disturbed and likewise posing hazard to passersby.

Table: Distribution of Registered Motor Vehicle By Type and Use, Baguio City , 2000

Data Source: Dep't. of Transportation & Communication - CAR

The city's transport carriers increased by 4,727 motor vehicles over a five-year period covering 1996 to 2000. This has increased the vehicle-to-population ratio from 73 to 88 motor vehicles for every 1,000 population.

Because of its narrow roads converging to the Central Business District Baguio's ever-growing vehicle count causes traffic congestion. This problem is aggravated by uncontrolled parking within the Central Business District as well as some residential zones, which in turn reduces traffic efficiency and further aggravates congestion.

Many public utility vehicles (jeepneys and taxis) are not only in poor condition but also contribute to air pollution. Smoke emission tests conducted by the City Government through the Public Utilities & Services Office revealed that 46.13% of the 18,003 vehicles tested in 1995 to 2000 failed test standards.

The over pass bridges contribute to the better flow and shorter traveling time of vehicles and providing safety of pedestrian traffic. Motorists seldom give priority to pedestrians along roads. Sidewalks also suffer from obstructions by vendors and other I stationary peddlers.

There is only one bus terminal that accommodates all buses bound for the north and south. This is located at Governor Pack Road within a right-of-way of an existing a road. However, unloading of passengers during daytime is along portion of road at the PNR vicinity within Marcoville Barangay.

Communication

The city is served with all types of communication facilities; print broadcast postal, telecom telephone and Internet services.

Basic telephone service in the city are managed the PILTEL, SMART and p As of 2000, there are a total of 30,126 subscribers of PILTEL and SMART. This represents 58% of the total households connected with the landline communication service. It does not include yet that of DIG1TEL subscribers. Other communication services provided in the city by private companies are; a) Cellular Mobile Telephone Services (Globe, Smart Piltel/Talk n Text, Touch Mobile); b) RadioCcommunications Services (Civic Action Groups, Amateur Clubs); and the c) Internet Services (Moscom/Axon, Cyberspace, Sky I-net Hi-work!, Digitel One, Philweb.com, Inc.)

Telecommunications and Telex Exchange services are provided by the Bureau of Telecommunications (BUT EL), a government bureau. Private services are provided by the Pilipino Telephone Inc. (PILTEL), Philippine Long Distance and Telephone, Co. (PLDT), Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Company (PT & T) and r Radio Communications of the Philippines (RCPI).

There are t3Jathoi stations (10 FM & 3 AM Stns.) operating in the city. The FM Stations are; DZYB, Star FM, DWSK, DWHB, DWMB-Barangay Love Radio, DWBG, FBN, DWRA-Campus radio, DWDJ, and the MPBC DZWR while the Radio Stations (AM) are DZWT, DZWX, and DZEQ, DZYB.

Four the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp., People's Television PTS 8, Sky Cable and Via Comm. are now also servicing local TV viewers, RPN 9

Ten (10) local newspapers are published in the city, which are circulated in s the Cordillera areas & Regions I/II National dailies and various magazines and gazettes are also available in the local newsstands and even in restaurants. They are; Baguio Reporter, Midland Courier, Skyland News, Suns tar Daily, The Junction, The Tribune, Zigzag Weekly, The Northern Philippines Times, Northern News Profile and the Baguio Diaryo, Cordillera Today.

Postal service is presently provided by a main public post office and eight sub-total stations. Aside from government postal facilities, there are private establishments catering to postal and messengerial services as shown in the following table.

Table: Communication//Messengerial Services

Water Resources

The Baguio Water District, a quasi-government entity, administers the water supply system for the City of Baguio . BWD operates an extensive water production & distribution system consisting of 44 deep wells and another one on-going at the DPWH Motorpool which is expected to be completed by November 2001 and 6. Owing to Baguio 's rugged topography, water distribution has been technically difficult and expensive.

Table 2D-3 shows that the total annual water production for the past five years was at a range of 11 million cubic meters. Current water supply could not however cope with the needs of the fast growing population. A total of 24,385 connections catering to all types of concessionaires such as Residential, Commercial, Government PEZA and water deliveries and hauling. Only 60% of the total households are connected with the distribution system.

Based on data gathered from the Baguio Water District, water production was at an average of 11,148,378 cubic meters annually or 31,000 cu.m. daily for the five- year period. The level of “unaccounted was at an average of 38% mark

Average water production was only 31 percent of the consumption requirement of 150 litters/capita/day. The present supply cannot cope up with the demand especially during summer and at seasons when tourist arrival is at its peak. Encroachment along watersheds has caused the deterioration on the volume and quality of water production. Cutting of trees are often encountered in the development of subdivisions.

Table: Total Water Consumption and Production In Cubic Meters, Baguio City

*Consumption was estimated at 150 liters/capita/day

**Actual production data was provided by the Baguio Water District

If the same trend in the volume of water production continues, BWD could only assure 26% of the projected requirement by the year 2005. The distribution of water becomes even more difficult for BWD during the summer months when it is estimated that the population almost doubles due to the influx of visitors during this period coinciding with the failure of spring supplies with as much as a 17% reduction in production from the deepwell sources due to low water levels. The following table presents the projected water requirement of the total population. It is assumed that the water consumption per capita per day is 150 liters.

Table: Projected Water Requirement Baguio City , By Year 2001-2005

Flood Control and Drainage

The city's drainage system consists of natural creeks and storm drainage, many of which are already antiquated and damaged. As a result, flooding is experienced especially at the Central Business District and at the City Camp Lagoon area. This is attributed to several factors such as; the planning and construction of roads do not incorporate the drainage system; existing drainage facilities are inadequate to accommodate water and are sometimes dogged due to improper disposal of solid wastes; some establishments tap their sewerage system to drainage system; and in some areas there are no drainage facilities which allow water to flow along roads and accumulate at lowest elevations.

The perennial flooding of the City Camp Lagoon is one of the major problems that besets the city affecting some families settled within an area of 206,069 square meters. The Feasibility studies for its reclamation and development is now being prepared to come up with measures on how to solve the problem.

Electricity

Electricity, which is generated outside the city, is mainly distributed by the Benguet Electric Cooperative Inc. Power sources for the city comes from Sual and Ambuclao through the National Power Corporation and the Mini-Hydro at Asin. All the 129 barangays of the City are reached by the distribution system, although electricity is not yet available to some houses. According to the BENECO, there is enough supply of electricity for the city.

Electric consumption in 2000 totaled 134,360 mwh. The figure below shows that the residential sector is the biggest consumer.

Electric Consumption, By Sector, 2000

Petroleum Products and Liquefied Petroleum Gas

Supply, in the form of gasoline, diesel, kerosene and LPG, are provided by three big oil companies by transporting them from outside the city through oil tankers. These are distributed by private commercial dealers found in the city at filling stations, for petroleum products, and authorized commercial establishment owner, for LPG. Although the dealers are maintaining a reserve of about 10-day consumer requirements, supply becomes critical when the major roads/access to the city are closed for sometime.

Petroleum products, except kerosene, are primarily used by the transport sector while LPG is used for cooking in the household. Consumers are not limited to those living in the city but also include users in neighboring municipalities.

Traditional Fuel

Energy in the City comes from outside sources mainly as finished products in the form of electricity, petroleum products and traditional fuel.

Unlike charcoal, other traditional fuel such as firewood and wood wastes are sourced from within the city. Charcoal comes from the lowlands. Use of traditional fuel, which is mostly for cooking, is very minimal.

The city's supply in energy is largely dependent on the plans and targets of electricity companies and market oriented policies of oil companies. Fuel marketing and distribution are of commercial interest. The market of traditional fuel is not yet well established. The city government has no control over petroleum product dealership. Energy utilization efficiency and energy conservation is not yet given primary attention. Energy requirements of development undertakings are yet to be subjected to impact analysis / assessment especially on energy use.

The cool climate is a natural conservation and savings factor especially for the industry sector. The city has potential sources of energy such as soil waste, solar and wind. The city government is very supportive of the energy plans and programs as indicated by the adoption of the City Council of the City energy Policy, as contained in the Resolution No. 202, series of 1993.

Sewage and Sewerage

The Baguio Sewage Treatment Plant (BSTP) was designed with a rated capacity of only 8,600 cu. m. / day. Coupled with this inadequacy is the rugged terrain of the city where low lying areas are not feasible to be serviced by the BSTP. Its performance in terms of reduction of pollutant in the treated sewage has however exceeded the allowable standard of 85% to 94.875%. Baguio is serviced by some 41,740.6 LM of sewer lines that is connected to the BSTP. Many of its pipelines are old which were installed during the pre-war needing replacement.

As of June 2001, there are 63 out of the 129 barangays that are currently serviced by the Baguio Sewage Treatment Plant, representing a total service connection of 7,420 households from residential and commercial establishments located at the Central Business District and its peripheries. The remaining population avails of Septic tanks, cesspits and latrines. Low lying barangays cannot be serviced by the BSTP.

Solid Waste

Management of solid waste in the city is under the General Services Office of the City Government

Only 125 out of 129 barangays of the city is accessible for garbage collection. As of 2000, 98 percent of the city's total households are being served by the garbage collection system. Garbage trucks are not able to reach some areas due to steep and narrow roads. The present system is equipped with eleven (11) garbage trucks having as aggregate hauling capacity of 88 cubic meters. Only 102,282 kgs of the estimated 175,124 kgs daily garbage are collected. This represents 58% of the total daily waste generation of the population. The central Business District is serviced daily while the different barangays are serviced once a week.

The Zoning System of garbage collection for the entire City of Baguio was maintained and further improved. Aside from religiously serving the 125 barangays with regular collection as scheduled through the Zoning System.

The Solid Waste Management and Building Maintenance Division (SWM/BM) has integrated in the system, the Barangay Base Garbage Collection Concept (BBGCC). This is very workable for areas not previously served by regular garbage collection service. In this set-up, the Barangays who want to have regular garbage collection has to provide adequate number of manpower from their Barangay to load the garbage onto the truck. The SWM/ BM will provide and the driver to operate the collection vehicle for hauling the garbage to the disposal site. With this concept, the City government has saved operational expenses. This concept is currently being enjoyed by the following barangays like Dontogan Barangay, Baguio Country Club Village Barangay, Scout Barrio Barangay, Dreamland Subdivision and Upper Pinget , Sto. Nino Subdvision and Bengao at Central Bakakeng, Kadaklan Village at Loakan Apugan and Alphaville at Loakan Liwanag. This translated to an estimate of 10,000 population or 46.7 metric tons of garbage generated per day.

Toward the end of 2000, The General Services Office offered to extend the garbage collection services to Lucnab Barangay and Upper Crystal Cave Area of Bakakeng Central using this concept after the said areas requested for garbage collection extension.

Another integration into the system is the Review of Critical Areas (CRAs). In here, those areas identified to have abnormal waste generation and always with unsightly garbage pick up points are given extra frequency of garbage collection. The garbage trucks assigned in these areas have to mandatory review the different critical designated pick up points to minimize the unsightly overflowing of garbage especially along the road. These areas are those within the central business district, university belt and barangays near the CBD.

The city dumps its solid wastes at a 2.5 hectares dumpsite located at Irisan Barangay some four (4) kilometers from the Central Business District. Open dumping and burning are the methods used for disposal.

The use of open dumping and burning as a means of waste disposal pose health hazards among residents of nearby barangays due to odor and smoke. Leachate produced by decomposed garbage is also polluting the water sources of low-lying communities in its vicinty. There is a need to improve the present system of disposal and identify appropriate site/s for this purpose.

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Source of Information/Author: Ms. Christine Rivera
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