The Baguio Garbage Problem

Recently, I posted this question: Can we still consider Baguio City as the Summer Capital Of the Philippines despite the current garbage crisis? The post received a lot of replies and some of them are shown below. Indeed, the garbage problem skyrocketed and the city government is having a hard time fixing this problem. Also, the city mayor is having a hard time convincing the city councilors over a proposed solution and the latter having no definite alternative. People in our beloved city are suffering because of these politicians. Their undecisiveness costs our city its pride and glory as the country's foremost summer capital. Here are some of the comments: 

"in terms of its cool climate, yes. but in terms of as the cleanest summer capital... no." - dzu

"Yes!But not that clean" - bernard

"yes,but if there are other places to choose from or more deserving and better thn baguio's conditon ryt now it's a no.." - emanon

"Baguio was declared as summer capital of the Philippines because of its colorful flowers, beautiful parks, mountain breeze, cleanliness (way back), etc. one can no longer feel the essence of residing on the “summer capital of the Philippines” if our place pictures wastes along the side roads and canals. We see trash bins everywhere; we just have to discipline ourselves." - arnz

"the new summer capital is Nueva vizcaya.. that's the billboard you see when you enter the province via the Bokod-Vizcaya road... Green trees, cool air... TOTOONG PINE TREE.. HINDI cemento.. aNYWAY, PATAPOS NA TERM NI bOYSCOUT MAYOR bAUTISTA, Bakit wala siyang will power to remove that Cement Pine tree up session road?" -paul elle

"i'm afraid to say this but i think we're at risk of losing that title..there's this one tv show i watch b4 and it was mention there that baguio is no longer considred as th summer capital to some..a survey was condcted and all the participant was askd where they want to spend ther vacation or would like to go, most of them answered boracay..only ... few answered baguio..and basing on the no. of tourist who visit the place, boracay's tourist is greater than baguio..so as the black eyed peas say, wat we gonna do with all that junk?" -emanon

"Garbage capital of the Philippines maybe. Lolz" - ble

"Nope Baguio don't seem to be the summer capital already due to over population and garbage....its hot there during summer also... I guess the next Summer capital would be the Town near my Hometown which is Barlig a lot of Pine trees and cool weather and fresh water...hehehehehe" -lance

"Let us continue to pray for wisdom be upon our gov't officials from the mayor to the brgy level to unite their minds to come up with a permanent solution concerning our garbage problem.Meanwhile,As citizens of Baguio,i believe we can be a solution to the garbage crisis if we seriously practice proper segregation and recycling or our own garbage.Let's declare and claim that Baguio is still the Summer Capital of the Philippines!..Matagotago tako am-in ay i-Baguio!" - weng

"me thinks, pine trees do not make a 'summer capital'. neither would garbage unmake a summer capital.
The better questions each one should ask him/herself is: Have i done my part planting or preserving the trees and the environment? Do i dispose off my garbage properly or just throw them anywhere? my 2 cents..". -brian

"brian ur definitely ryt, d problem s within us.we lack discipline..however, i disagree with ur statemnt dat grbage would not unmake a summer capital coz it does in my opinion..i thnk the core of the title summer capital is cleanliness which is one thing that we failed to maintain in baguio..hopefully we will gain it back in the near future... i'm hoping also that other places in cordillera or other part of the philippines which is still innocent about the effect of industrialization will not suffer the same consequences..by the way i'm not against industrializtion,jejejeje.." - emanon

"If Baguio is still cleaner than the rest I guess there is no choice, it will remain as summer capital- uray no awan ti danum ken public toilets." - mikhael

"i say,, Yes of course..i LOVE
Baguio...Baguio will never be baguio without garbage.. it has been a
long time issue we seldom talked about it before. also, garbagecomes in
so different ways like car plans,
ma...lversation of public funds, for official use also cars, amamok ni...
mayor, padlik ni councilor, uray ni major boating ken nisarhento, am
amok metlang ni judge, ken ni prosecutor, pulis ak!, dagakdayta naka
patakderan balay u, kuwak amin daggita, ibotos dak manen taagkurakut
ak,and so many more,, oh name it, its all up there.. to be objective? we
have to ask tousists who tour around philippine islands to compare if
baguio really is the summer capital...hehehe... camsur,palawan and
others are catching up. if they only have a cool weather,baguio will be
left behind....garbage i think is a universal fact, garbage management is up to us." - jester

"this is the kind of question we ask when we screw up in choosing our leaders hehehe i guess the voters share the blame.... but yes, it still is as the garbage crisis may still be over shadowed by the climate. Although, its another story if Sagada becomes a city..Baguio, watch out!" - chris

"in my opinion it would be better f baguio and tabuk and other f there r any will be the only city in cordillera..pls. don't push sgada to be a city..kaasi lng ti umili..ngumato lng ti cost of living and only those on the government will hve the advantage coz their salary will increase..and i don' think that we want those beautifl scenery in sagada ...b ruined..look at sm, i'm not sure but i think they r not paying tax to the city of baguio coz its a corporation..they're paying their tax to the main branch which i believe is quezon city.." - emanon

"i'd still like to believe that baguio is the summer capital of the phil. in reality though, the city has lost the charm its once had many years ago.the place is too polluted and overpopulated that most tourists would rather go somewhre else than baguio. it's sad but true." - maridon

These comments came from the citizens of Baguio. Fact is,we cannot deny that Baguio city indeed has a garbage problem. Our city politicians know the problem and yes there are some proposed solutions. The problem arises when vested interest comes in. It is alleged that even the proposed garbage solutions has some sort of "money making scheme" depending on who and how the garbage collection will be carried out.
At the end of the day, the Baguioans suffer.

Photo from Jackcarino.multiply.com