20 Jan 2012

Flowers? What flowers?

Philippines, the country made up of 7107 Islands. Yes, 7107! As most of you may already know, Philippines isn't the coldest country in the world, but it does have a cold province!

Baguio, aka the Summer Capital of the Philippines is known to be the place to escape to when one is in need of a fresh, cold, breeze of air. It may not be -15°C, but it's definitely cold enough to stop sweating buckets!

Despite of the chilly weather, an interesting sight can still thrive at least once a year...flowers! Baguio City holds a yearly event for the entire month of February known as the Panagbenga Festival. Panagbenga, which means a season of blooming in Kankanaey (one of the many dialects in Philippines), started in 1995. Panagbenga was established in order to provide hope to its citizens after the earthquake that occurred in 1990. Many might say that it's known as "a season of blooming" because of the flowers, but I'd like to think that the flowers aren't the only reason. In my opinion, the flowers aren't the only ones that are blooming, but Baguio City as a whole as well. Oh! Before I forget, the Panagbenga Festival doesn't just showcase the beauty of the flowers, but also the talents of the traditional street dancers in the Philippines!

I hope that the videos I've posted below can help you visualize the state that Baguio City was in after the earthquake in 1990 and compare it to how Baguio City looks like now during the Panagbenga Festival.



Amazing right?! One the characteristics that I admire about Filipinos are their ability to pick up the pieces of anything that is broken and turn it into something beautiful. There have been a lot of natural and "not-so-natural" disasters that have occurred in the Philippines, yet they always seem to pick themselves back up somehow. This is why I can honestly say that my hope for the Philippines blooms along with the Panagbenga Festival ;)