Hold Up, Am I in the States Right Now?

         “Hold up, am I in the States right now?" That was running through my head when we took a day trip to Baguio City. Visiting the city can feel like going back to the United States; the weather, the houses, the restaurants and the name of places can make it seem like the United States.  Even though the stay was less than a day, it was enough to notice ongoing Americanizatio, globalization and modernization in the city.  Baguio city was different from the other places that we had visited such as Batad, Cavite and Manila.  We see American influences around the country but Baguio City is different, it was a created by Americans therefore the influence had to be present.  In this blog I will inform you about my experience in Baguio in comparison to other cities, the creation of Baguio city, the advantage that America had on Baguio and finally how Americanization and globalization is present in the cities.

            Baguio City reflected the United States, which is predictable by learning about the city’s creation.   The city was built for the convenience of the United States; Baguio was, literally, a breath of fresh air: like a balm, the cool, pine-scented breezes soothed weary Americans unaccustomed to Manila’s tropical heat (Alcantra, 210).  From my experience, the weather is amongst the differences from Seattle, it is so hot and humid and when it rains here the rain is so much different than the rain in Seattle. Seattle is known for its crazy weather of always raining but here it pours for a few minutes then it goes away.  I could see why Americans were not used to the weather and a place in the highlands would allow them to get away from Manila and go to a place that would have the weather like home.

 The creation of the city allowed the American government to save money because within twelve hours soldiers were in a place that would take away the necessity for long vacations spent in America; reduce the number who go invalided home, and lengthen the period of the American soldiers that were stationed. It reduced the number of soldiers returning home therefore decreasing the expense of transportation of troops between the island and the United States (Alcantra, 210).  Not only did the creation of Baguio City benefit Americans but it also provided job opportunities, for example, the construction of the Benguet Road offered a steady income to all the unemployed of the Philippines (Bose, 262).  The creation of the city involved the construction of Benguet Road and other roads which created job opportunities.

Americanization, modernization and globalization are present in all countries and the Philippines are no exception.  Baguio City is one city that we have visited and read about that we can see these factors present. It was very interesting to see that within one country we can see the traditional way of life, like in Banaue. On our trip to the Banaue Rice Terraces we saw how people lived with poor water supply, electricity and sanitation.  People live so far away from town that children have to walk for half an hour or even more to get to school. Professor Jose commented on our trip to the Banaue Rice Terraces by saying that globalization and Americanization does not exist there. That is true since we did not see much Americanization except in the Americanized pizza that I had for dinner. I would say that Americanization and globalization is not as present like in other parts of the country but it does have its presence there. The younger generations are taught English which I noticed from the notebook of the girl whom I bought water from. Kids do not want to continue their family tradition of farm workers which results into a shortage of farm workers.  Professor Jose added that farm working is hard labor which is why younger generations do not want to become farm workers.  They aspire being in other work forces rather than farming. From Anakbayan member, R.G’s presentation we learned that farm workers are part of the peasant category which is seventy five percent of the Filipino population. Farmers are the ones feeding the country; they grow the rice, fruits and vegetables that people eat but yet they cannot feed themselves. 

            Apart from the traditional way of living we saw in Banaue, we can also see modernization, globalization and Americanization in the country like in Baguio city, Makati and Global City.  We can see restaurants like Starbucks, hotels and nicer roads. We can also see it in the way the younger generations are dressing, wearing brand names that were established in the U.S such as Michael Jordan’s shoes and clothing.

            The trip to Baguio City allowed me to further see how America has influenced the Philippines. The initial creation of Baugio City was for the advantage of the American soldiers stationed in Manila and the American government.  The U.S built a city that they could call their home in the Philippines which shows me how the creators felt they were superior to the Filipinos even in their own country, they felt the freedom and superiority to design a city of their own that  would remind them of home.  

How do you feel about the creation of Baguio City? Do you think its creation was only for the advantage of the United States?