'Egay' damages Baguio

SUPERTYPHOON "Egay" howled into Baguio at dawn on July 25. By then power had been cut and in the darkness, residents heard the wind knocking down trees, upending houses of light materials and pounding rain. They were under Signal No. 3, not quite in the direct path of the typhoon as Isabela, Cagayan, Babuyan Islands and Batanes further north were. But it was destructive in Baguio without a doubt.

Listening to the ANC noon news broadcast "Dateline" two days later, I saw videos of fallen trees blocking roads, crews with chainsaws cutting them to clear the road, landslides, houses buried and no power in the city and its environs. Yet the spokesman of the Baguio City Hall Commission on Disaster Relief and Rehabilitation Management, a certain Louie Glenn Lardizabal, claimed there was very little damage, the electric power cooperative which he airily described as one of the top and most efficient in the country had restored power and all roads were clear, including the ones going up to Baguio. In other words, tourists keep coming.