"I enjoyed every moment," said Jasmin Landero as she just finished planting her tree sapling at Busol Watershed last Monday that almost concluded her four-day stay in the country's Summer Capital.
It was also after her oath-taking, swearing to protect the tree she just planted.
Four were chosen as LSVs last Maundy Thursday and Landero was the first when the Victory Liner bus she was riding in was flagged down by a team of Traffic Management Group policemen, media and representatives from the Department of Tourism (DOT) regional office.
For Landero, it was an adventure, an opportunity to see Baguio, which she has dreamed of seeing but never had a chance to visit. And when her elder sister Gilmet asked if she could join her for a company excursion, the 24-year-old agriculturist said yes.
Minutes later, Marited Maturana joined her as she was the only first timer in a group of three that included her elder sister Vanessa and close friend John Angelo Butac. The three were supposed to hike to Naswac, Bokod, Benguet and join Vanessa's mountaineering group for a volunteer work in this fourth-class barangay.
"We thought of the freebies, but it is too much," said Vanessa, at 26, is the eldest of the four.
It was not her first, she admitted. Months before, she was with a group of bikers who climbed Baguio all the way to Mt. Pulag in Kabayan, Benguet.
The sports buff, however, was the first to "fall by the wayside" as the calling which would be to get to Naswac, Bokod where her group wants to donate a small building for a school which its former mayor ceded to a neighboring town in Nueva Vizcaya.
She came back Sunday.
Butac had to fly to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Sunday morning and had to cut short his four days stay. The environmental engineer from Sampaloc, Manila missed the tree planting activity of the event.
The LSV spent four days seeing Baguio and Benguet, a trek that started from the art shop at Twin Peaks, a pictorial at the Lions Head and at the Kennon Road View Deck.
Then they had to ride at the back of a pick and get to waive at people at Session Road en route to City Hall to meet with Vice Mayor Daniel Farinas who welcomed them and give the key to the city.
"This is something new. I feel I'm an actress," said the 22-year-old Maturana who designs webs for a living.
Then the tour starts actually after the lunch at Rose Bowl. From SM City where they got a view of the city and Burnham Park which was the next destination.
A dinner at Camp Peppot saw them hitting the sack early. Vanessa, however, had to leave.
The LSV is one of the more enduring activities of the Baguio Correspondents and Broadcasters Club in cooperation with the Baguio City Government, which has adapted it as part of its Summer Vacation activity.
It is also endorsed by the La Trinidad Government and incorporated with its Strawberry Festival.
The LSV 2008 is sponsored by Caltex, Smart and Thunderbird Resort -- Poro Point. (Press release)
