Baguio City (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - Couples could easily handle the chill in Baguio City in the Philippines when early morning temperatures dropped from 12.8 degrees Celsius on January 1 to 10.8 degrees the following day.
The city's most prominent tourist, President Aquino, a bachelor, might have sought the warmth of thick blankets to ward off the cold.
"The temperature [changes] seem to indicate we will have colder periods, maybe even 9 degrees Celsius before January 15," said Letty Dispo, a weather specialist at the Baguio office of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
Families who flocked to the presidential Mansion here did not see the President, who was on "private time," a cue for reporters to withdraw coverage of Mr. Aquino's activities.
The President flew back to Metro Manila on Sunday afternoon from Loakan airport, a police official said.
The cold weather has been Baguio's best attraction. Earlier, the city government drew flak over a simulated snow show on Session Road.
The show was supposed to draw more tourists to Baguio, but people who witnessed it complained that organizers had given them soap suds. The city government canceled its contract with the show organizers.
At a December 29 news briefing, Mayor Mauricio Domogan said he was more comfortable with the number of tourists who come to the city during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
The average number of visitors from December to January is 100,000, but the figure goes up to between 200,000 and 300,000 because of the Baguio Flower Festival in February and the Holy Week in late March or April, records from the city tourism office showed.
"We don't really want more than what we can accommodate. How will we serve them [if they exceed our resources]? We don't have the infrastructure," Domogan said.
Burnham Park
Many of the city's New Year visitors who stayed until Sunday trooped to Burnham Park to warm up. A group of visitors from Metro Manila said they were comfortable with the temperature on December 30 and 31, which was around 13 degrees Celsius.
The chill had invaded neighboring Benguet towns, even before tourists in Baguio started doubling their blankets.
Farmers working in the province's upland vegetable gardens said they lighted up more bonfires on January 1 compared with last year as soon as they felt the nippy weather.
Frost
Officials of Atok and Kibungan towns said cold weather had greeted them from Christmas to New Year. They said farmers anticipate colder mornings in early February when frost blankets vegetable farms.
Board member Pacito Donato said Sunday morning was so cold in Barangay Balili in Mankayan town where his family tends more than a hectare of potatoes and carrots. "The weather here is extreme," he told the Inquirer in Kankanaey.
Atok Councilor Marson Lay-at said the cold weather at this time of the year was not unusual.
Lay-at said it was not the week yet for "andap" (frost) but if the temperature continued to dip, "farmers might as well brace their farms for greenhouses and rain birds (water sprinklers)."
Because they lie atop the highest mountains of Benguet, Barangay Paoay in Atok town, Barangay Madaymen in Kibungan town and Barangays Natubleng and Sinipsip in Buguias town are the coldest communities in the area.
Vegetable centers
They are also the vegetable centers of Benguet, which supplies most of Metro Manila's salad vegetables.
Temperature readings in these areas are often two to three degrees lower than Baguio's.
Fred Rufino, Atok's agriculturist, often tracks down the temperature in the town. "[Temperature readings] have fluctuated. There were spots of frost seen in farms found in slopes but these were minimal and did not cause damage."
