Baguio ‘ukay-ukay’ center up for closure

BAGUIO City—eviction notices have been issued to tenants at Bayanihan Hotel, one of Baguio’s popular spots for “ukay-ukay” (used clothes) shopping, after local officials declared the building unfit for occupancy. Still, Bayanihan remains among the heritage structures that City Hall wants preserved. It was destroyed in World War II, when it was used by the Japanese military, and was rebuilt in the 1950s.

BAGUIO CITY—THE Bayanihan Hot el, a Commonwealt hbu ilding tha to nce served as headquarters of the dreaded Kempetai during world War II, has been declared unsafe.

Eviction notices were issued on Sept . 27 to its 160 tenants, who sell imported secondhand clothes, because the building was no longer fit for occupancy, said city a rchitect ,Johnny Degay, also acting building officer.

Bayanihan is popular to residents and tourists as among the top “ukay-ukay” or “wag-wag” destinations, where they can buy cheap clothes, shoes and bags.

Government engineer s sa id the building interior is fragile an d it swooden floors have starte dto give way.

Preservation

The building was used as an Australi anc old storage or a refrigerated warehouse for food stock before it served as headquarters of the Kempetai, ort he Japanese militar yp olice who were feared f or t argeting suspected Filipino guerrillas.

It was destroye dd uring the war and was rebuil ti n the 1950s when it served asah otel.

However, the Bayanihan Hotel remains o nal is to f Baguio structures that the city considers its heritage monuments, Degay said, s ot hec it yg overnment wants to

Ownership dispute

He said the owners could demolish and rebuild without touching the concrete façade, which had not worn out .Hesa id the Baguio fire department had close dt he building in 2011 for fire code violations. “But nothing seems to have been done to make the building safe,” Degay said.

According to lawyer Marisa Dacayanan, the buildi ng administrator, the property is the subjec to fan ownership dispute “so we have ha ddi fficulties getting the required permits” to fulfill some city requirements.