Ibaloi town of Kafagway Baguio used to be a vast mountain zone with lush highland forests, teeming with various wildlife such as the indigenous deer,
cloud rats,
Philippine eagles,
Philippine warty pigs, and numerous species of flora. The area was a hunting ground of the indigenous peoples, notably the
Ibalois and other
Igorot ethnic groups. When the Spanish arrived in the Philippines, the area was never fully subjugated by Spain due to the intensive defense tactics of the indigenous Igorots of the
Cordilleras. Igorot oral history states the
Benguet upper class,
baknang, was founded between 1565 and the early 1600s, by the marriage of a gold trader, Amkidit, and a Kankanaey maiden
gold panning in Acupan. Their son, Baruy, discovered a gold deposit in the area, which he developed with hired workers and slaves. The Spanish , which was located at Bag-iw in the vicinity of Guisad Valley was later moved to Cariño's house where the current city hall stands.
Bag-iw was the Ibaloi toponym of the town, an Ibaloi term for "moss" which was historically abundant in the area. This name was spelled by the Spaniards as
Baguio.
First Philippine Republic During the
Philippine Revolution in July 1899, Filipino revolutionary forces under
Pedro Paterno liberated La Trinidad from the Spaniards and took over the government, proclaiming Benguet as a province of the new
Philippine Republic. Baguio was converted into a "town", with Mateo Cariño being the (mayor).
Governor-General William Taft, on his first visit in 1901, noted the "air as bracing as
Adirondacks or
Murray Bay..." On November 11, 1901, the American colonial government expropriated lands in Baguio owned by the Ibaloi people, who were forced to sell their lands. In 1903,
Filipinos,
Japanese and
Chinese workers were hired to build
Kennon Road, the first road directly connecting Baguio with the lowlands of
La Union and
Pangasinan. Before this, the only road to
Benguet was
Naguilian Road, and it was largely a horse trail at higher elevations.
Camp John Hay was established in October 1903, after
President Theodore Roosevelt signed an
executive order setting aside land in
Benguet for a military reservation for the
United States Army to rest and recuperate from the lowland heat. It was named after Roosevelt's
Secretary of State,
John Milton Hay.
The Mansion, built in 1908, served as the official residence of the American Governor-General during the summer to escape Manila's heat. The Mansion was designed by architect
William E. Parsons based on preliminary plans by architect
Daniel Burnham. Burnham, one of the earliest successful modern
city planners, designed the mountain retreat following the tenets of the
City Beautiful movement. In 1904, the rest of the city was planned out by Burnham. On September 1, 1909, Baguio was declared as a chartered city and nicknamed the "Summer Capital of the Philippines". The succeeding period saw further developments of and in Baguio with the construction of
Wright Park in honor of Governor-General
Luke Edward Wright,
Burnham Park in honor of Burnham,
Governor Pack Road, and
Session Road.
World War II , destroyed by artillery fire during the
Battle of Baguio. The ruins were demolished for new development in 2021. Prior to
World War II, Baguio was the summer capital of the
Commonwealth of the Philippines, and the home of the
Philippine Military Academy. As such, it was very important in military and political terms. Philippine President
Manuel Quezon was even in Baguio when the war began. On December 8, 1941, 17 Japanese bombers attacked
Camp John Hay,as part of the first Japanese air raid on Luzon. Baguio was declared an
open city in December 27. Following the
Japanese invasion of the Philippines in 1941, the
Imperial Japanese Army used
Camp John Hay, an American installation in Baguio, as a military base. The nearby
Philippine Constabulary base,
Camp Holmes, was used as an
internment camp for about 500 civilian enemy aliens, mostly Americans, between April 1942 and December 1944. on September 3, 1945. President
José P. Laurel of the
Second Philippine Republic, a
puppet state established in 1943, departed the city on March 22 and reached
Taiwan eight days later, on March 30. The remainder of the Second Republic government, along with Japanese civilians, were ordered to evacuate Baguio on March 30. General
Tomoyuki Yamashita and his staff then relocated to
Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya. By late March 1945, Baguio was within range of the American and Filipino military
artillery. A major offensive to capture Baguio did not occur until April 1945, when the
USAFIP-NL's 1st Battalion of the 66th Infantry, attached with the United States Army's
37th Infantry Division, the USAFIP-NL's 2nd Battalion of 66th Infantry, attached with the US
33rd Infantry Division, and the USAFIP-NL's 3rd Battalion of the 66th Infantry, converged on Baguio. By April 27, 1945, the city was liberated and the joint force proceeded to liberate the La Trinidad valley.
Post-World War II recovery With the end of World War II, Baguio recovered quickly, earning a significant reputation as a tourism venue and earning significantly from tourism even though it ceased to be the official "Summer Capital of the Philippines" in 1976.
During the Marcos dictatorship The beginning months of the 1970s marked a period of turmoil and change in the Philippines, as well as in Baguio. the Philippine economy took a sudden downwards turn known as the
1969 Philippine balance of payments crisis, which in turn led to a period of economic difficulty and social unrest. With only a year left in his last constitutionally allowed term as president Ferdinand Marcos placed the Philippines under
Martial Law in September 1972 and thus retained the position for fourteen more years. This period in Philippine history is remembered for the Marcos administration's record of
human rights abuses, particularly targeting political opponents, student activists, journalists, religious workers, farmers, and others who fought against the Marcos dictatorship. During this time, Baguio City jail was partially adapted to become a detention center for "
political detainees" who were jailed because the administration saw them as threats, and who were often held without being formally charged, which is why they were classified as "detainees", not "prisoners." Among the prominent prisoners held at the Baguio City jail were 1967 Miss Philippines–World
Maita Gomez who had spoken against the government, and Bulletin Today journalist Isidoro Chammag who had angered Marcos' soldiers by covering the 1983
Beew Massacre in
Tubo, Abra. Camp Henry T. Allen, the original site of the Philippine Military Academy near the Baguio City Hall, was also designated as a detention center during this time.
During the 1986 People Power Revolution In the wake of the
Snap Presidential elections of 1986, antidictatorship organizers were based largely in the Azotea Building midway up Session Road, and in Cafe Amapola further up Session, at its intersection with Governor Pack Road. Because the United States' Armed Forces Radio and Television Network station at Camp John Hay was transmitting news from Manila, they learned early on that the
People Power Revolution had begun in Manila. Deciding that their locations were too unsafe, they encamped in the courtyard of the
Baguio Cathedral, which was located on higher ground. They were later joined by Lt.
Benjamin Magalong, of the
Philippine Constabulary detachment in Buguias, Benguet, who had defected from the government, gone to the nearby Central Police Station in Baguio, and disarmed its personnel to prevent any untoward incidents while Baguio residents continued to gather at the cathedral to protest the
abuses of the Marcos administration. and made the highly urbanized city of Baguio its seat of government.
1990 Luzon Earthquake and aftermath The
1990 Luzon earthquake ( = 7.7) destroyed some parts of Baguio and the surrounding province of Benguet on the afternoon of July 16, 1990. A significant number of buildings and infrastructure were damaged, including the Hyatt Terraces Plaza, Nevada Hotel, Baguio Park Hotel, FRB Hotel and Baguio Hilltop Hotel; major highways were temporarily blocked due to landslides and pavement breakup; and a number of houses were leveled or severely shaken with numerous casualties. Some of the fallen buildings were built on or near fault lines; local architects later admitted structural building codes should have been followed more religiously, particularly regarding concrete and rebar standards, and "soft stories." Baguio has been rebuilt with aid from the national government and international donors such as
Japan,
Singapore and the
United States. ==Geography==