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2005, February 18.  Baguio Country Club Centenary

Litho Offset.  Amstar Company, Inc.  Perf. 14.

Se-tenant Pairs, Sheets of 40 (4 x 10);  Miniature Sheets of 8  (4 x 2)

 

        

Se-tenant Pairs (60,000)

 

    6p  Old Building

    6p  New Building

 

Miniature Sheets of 8    (5,000)

 

Graphic Artists:  Antonio Alexander B. Castro, Peter P. Abulancia, Mario Emil Leo A. Lazaga

Layout Artist:  Alfonso V. Divina

Design Coordinator:  Federico R. Agcaoili

 

 

First Day Covers:  Manila, Baguio City

 

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Stamp Design: The old photograph of the Club, circa 1930, replaced the silhouette figure of the Clubhouse found in the old logo and shows clearly the lodging rooms at the second level, the favorite verandah and the golfers in their white suits.

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Baguio Country Club

In the year 1900 the U.S. Secretary of State Elihu Root ordered the 2nd Philippine Commission "Do not forget to look for that cold place!" The Commission by then had heard of this fabled "paradise" from the Spaniards who were leaving after the Philippines had been purchased from Spain. The cold place was "Kafagway" inhabited by 30 Igorots, 10 Ilocanos and a white man-a German named Ono Sheerer.  

The Americans were in search of a place of relief from the tropical heat that had become unbearable to the white man. Once chartered into a city, this colonial hill station became "Baguio", a haven of hills and dales, virgin forests, brooks and glen, and that much coveted cool place for rest and recreation. 

Governor General William Cameron Forbes ordered in October 10, 1905 D.L.L. McGrew, an assistant of a government architect, William E. Parsons, to start a Country Club to provide recreation for healthy productive living and provide justification for the four million pesos spent for the construction of the Benguet Road.  

A part of the cattle pasture land of an Igorot Chief, Mateo Carino became "Governor's Hill" which was to become the site of the Baguio Country Club. And in February 1905, the Baguio Country Club was founded with an initial all-american, all white membership. With fervour and American energy, the clubhouse was built with a three-hole golf course.  

After 100 years the club's story is as rich and as colourful as Philippine History - A story of American annexation, colonialization, democratization, and freedom just as it is of the Filipino's revolution, heroism, struggles and pursuit for independence. To this day, traces of American influence pervades the Baguio Country Club for its blend of modern, colonial charm now adapted to its ethnic heritage.  

And after 100 years, as that "cold place" was discovered, developed and reinvented, a historical transformation has occurred.  The "Kafagway" population profile has changed to near half a million into a Baguio for all Filipinos.  Also, the Baguio Country club has see its many seasons of diminishing Americans, its brief conversion to a Japanese Officers Club, its liberation in 1946 and the emergence of Filipino membership and leadership.

TOPICAL CATEGORIES

• Architecture

• Tourism

Articles by Dr. Ngo TiongTak