An open letter to Mayor-elect Braulio Yaranon and other newly-elected officials of Baguio City

Voltaire Tupaz
Secretary General
Tongtongan Ti Umili-Cordillera Peoples Alliance

Tongtongan ti Umili – Cordillera Peoples Alliance profusely congratulates Mayor-elect Braulio Yaranon. His overwhelming victory is a people’s verdict that he rightfully deserves for having steadfastly exposed and opposed the triumvirate of power abuse, privatization, and poverty confronting the city.

Victory is the consequence of vigilance, indeed. This is a lesson that we, the people of Baguio, must value as we cherish this victory and reclaim our city. We should remain watchful and crucial even in the face of tactical electoral victory of some progressive candidates and parties. To begin with, the elections did not bring about qualitative and fundamental changes in our society. In fact, factions of the elite continue to dominate the country’s economy, politics, and culture.

In any case, through our vote, we have compellingly exercised our sovereign will to bestow mandate upon a new breed of political leadership, indeed. And through our vigilance, we will collectively nurture a new kind of politics – the Politics of Change.

Politics of Change is politics of the people. It primarily embodies the just demands and democratic aspirations of the marginalized sectors in our society. Mayor-elect Yaranon and other newly elected progressive officials are earnestly anticipated to anticipated to continue marching with the people in their pursuit of pursuit of social justice and change.

In particular, we have high expectations of the Yaranon administration in respect to addressing the pressing issues and concerns of the people of Baguio as captured by the Baguio People’s Agenda. This agenda was collectively formulated during the Baguio People’s Summit on February 25, 2004 at Vicariate Pastoral Center, here, where more than 300 delegates represented the urban poor, workers, government employees, the youth, women, church leaders, religious organizations, professionals, and personalities in the city.

We emphatically, reiterate and assert the following main points of the said People’s Agenda:

1. Exercise political will to provide good governance based on the principles of transparency, democratic consultation, people empowerment, non-compromise on corruption and abuse, and moral integrity;
2. Strictly implement a policy against the operation of casino and jueteng in the city;
3. Prioritize the efficient delivery of accessible basic social services – education, health, housing, and the like;
4. Respect the people’s right to shelter, stop the demolition of urban poor houses;
5. Stop the unjust and inhumane policy against ambulant vendors, provide them affordable permanent stalls and decent employment opportunities;
6. Uphold a policy against the privatization of the public market, roads, garbage collection, and other basic social services and public utilities;
7. Protect the right of consumers to accessible and efficient delivery of power and clean water;
8. Recognize and respect ownership of ancestral land; stop land grabbing and privatization of ancestral lands by big businesses, cancel government reservations that violate the land rights of the indigenous peoples, and investigate fictitious land titles;
9. Review the orientation of the flower festival and develop one that neither bastardizes nor commercializes but celebrates culture and protects the environment;
10. Adopt policies, measures and programs in the city that would strengthen action particularly against sexual violence against women and children; promote the right of women to fight for children’s basic needs and welfare like proper care, nutrition, health, safety and play, protection from abuse and exploitation, access to mass education, and good environment.

The mayor-elect is uniquely in a better position to effectively respond to these demands having articulated these with great eloquence and dedication as a councilor. Backed by an overwhelming mandate and guarded by our vigilance, the new administration will succeed in truly bringing back Baguio City to the people with the continuous support of the majority of its residents who put it into power.

Serve the people. #