Nicholas: Metro-Baguio woes

THE future Metro Baguio that we leave for our children and grandchildren weighs heavy on some of our minds, hearts, and shoulders.

Some of the best and brightest people often write, speak, or address public concerns and ideas about improving the overall business and living situation here in the Metro-Baguio area. There are much passion and goodwill in these efforts.

I will be writing three opinion pieces along with these same motivations. What ideas can contribute to the overall discussion regarding improving the Metro-Baguio area in the near-term (next five years) and in the long-term (beyond five years)?

The first opinion article will look at branding and how that is applied to businesses and even places. Metro-Baguio is a place that is known for some unique attributes. A pleasant climate and old-growth pine trees are two attributes up near the top of a long list of notable characteristics. And many of the things going on in the Baguio area are intertwined. How valuable are all of these things? And how could branding help to protect the value of the things that make up the core, unique qualities of Metro-Baguio? Qualities that if significantly reduced or removed would severely reduce the value of the Baguio area as a place.

The second opinion piece will look at the tree-cutting conundrum going on. Unbelievably, still going on! Everyone and their brother (aunt, sister, pastor, mayor, councilors, congressman, and Bishop) have been weighing in on this issue. How do we put a stop to this?

Just when we thought all the players were aligned: Public, businesses, politics at the metropolitan area, provincial level, and national level, more trees falling recently! Even with Baguio at the center of the next national government infrastructure improvement priority, the national government agency tasked with protecting the natural resources of the Philippines approved major tree cuttings during the pandemic and thereby somehow managed to out-smart everyone else. Frustrating! But perhaps there are some ideas that, if implemented, could stop tree cutting.

The third opinion column tackles the thorny issue of traffic congestion. If a person can walk from La Trinidad to Mine's View Park faster than driving it during rush hour or on the weekends during the normal season of tourists, something is terribly broken. This is an extremely passionate issue since advocacy groups call upon our political leaders and city planners to support their views regarding the public roads. I will be tapping some ideas from Eliyahu Goldratt's Theory of Constraints, a management theory that focuses on identifying constraints in a system and improving throughput.

Management theories are often used to study and develop recommendations in order to improve systems. The Metro-Baguio area is not only a system but a system of systems. Any ideas that potentially contribute to the discussion of improving Metro-Baguio for ourselves, our visitors, and our future generations may contribute to the Greater Good.

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