BAGUIO CITY – The city government here celebrated its 106th Baguio Charter day last week recognizing six outstanding citizens of Baguio and paying tribute to centenarians of this mountain resort.
Baguio mayor Mauricio Domogan stressed, “with this year’s theme “Nurturing the culture of caring and sharing towards competitiveness,” nothing is built when nothing is given, and when more is given, more is built by the same token. Also, if we want our city of Baguio to be better, then we must continue to give.
“If we want to maintain the status quo, or at best to continue to build a better Baguio, our competitiveness in the area of giving must continue,” added Domogan.
This year’s theme is very evident having six women as the most outstanding citizens of Baguio because of their active community participation and contributions to their respective fields of profession.
In the field of community service, Leonarda Aguinalde, Dona Digna Rosario and Epifania Dao-ey were honored for their leadership and participation in different activities in the city.
They have influenced the lives of other people to become productive for the betterment of respective communities.
Maria Nela Florendo on the other hand has shared her passion and knowledge in history which has linked younger generations to their heritage and traditions.
Teacher Basilisa Pimentel was also recognized for her is a testimony to harmony in the arts and the culture.
Entrepreneur Lilia Bautista has shared her resources by providing scholarship grants and livelihood assistance to those with potentials but with limited financial capabilities.
The centenarians recognized during the city’s 106th Charter day celebration include Eduardo Litilit, Sr. of Victoria Village was born on June 13, 1915, Pablo Amiling of Irisan was born on July 11, 1914, Apolonia Ellinger of Irisan was born on March 22, 1915, and 106 year old Magdalena Visperas on Salud Mitra was born on July 30, 1909.
Senior vice president for corporate affairs of Philex Mining Corp., Atty. Michael Toledo represented by the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company Manuel “MVP” Pangilinan joined the 106th charter day celebration.
Toledo conveyed the message of Pangilinan giving emphasis on this year’s theme of the Baguio day celebration wherein the culture of caring and sharing came from indigenous people giving importance to our heritage.
“Everybody are all after developing tourism and eco tourism, and we believe in the future of agriculture of feeding our people first. If our business is good, competitiveness will stay and the community and people will benefit from it,” read Toledo.
In the message of Pangilinan, the city officials together with the people of Baguio were challenged to be competitive in order to grow without exhausting our resources./Jho Arranz
