BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan confirmed that six trade fair organizers have signified their intention to manage and operate the conduct of this year’s Baguio Blooms Exposition and Exhibition which is part of the 24th edition of Panagbenga popularly known as the Baguio flower festival that will run from February 1 to March 10, 2019.
The local chief executive claimed that among those who participated in the conduct of the bidding for the management and operation of the 38-day Baguio Blooms Exhibition and Exposition include the one that organized last year’s trade fair at the Burnham Lake Drive, an organizer that also handled the Strawberry festival trade fair, and some Manila-based trade fair organizers who want to participate in the said undertaking to spice up the festive mood in the city during the duration of the flower festival.
He added that the venue for the conduct of the Baguio Blooms Exhibition and Exposition will no longer be at the Burnham Lake Drive or at the Juan Luna Drive because he signed a resolution that emanated from the local legislative body that prohibits the said roads from being closed but the same will be done around the skating rink to prevent the motoring and commuting public from being inconvenienced.
“We are still screening the proponents for us to determine the most advantageous offer not only to the city but also to those who will be getting stalls in the site of the month-long event which has already been an institutionalized activity of the flower festival,” Domogan stressed.
He disclosed that there are at least 280 stalls with an equal measurement of 4 meters by 3 meters that could be accommodated within the skating rink area compared to the 250 stalls that were established along Burnham Lake Drive and Juan Luna Drive last year.
Based on initial estimates, each of the stallholders will be mandated to pay at least *0,000 for the duration of the exhibition and exposition while there are some 38 stall with less measurement that could also be rented out with a lesser cost.
Domogan explained that each of the trade fair organizers have to make the best offer whether or not the over P4,000 special permit fees that will be paid to the City Treasury Office, the percentage tax that will be paid to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the 5 percent withholding tax to be also paid to the BIR and other utility fees and the over 100 square meters that will be occupied by the landscapers will be included in the proposed fees that will be collected from each of the exhibitor, thus the organizers must be able to present whatever best offer that they will be able to formulate subject to the evaluation of the screening committee.
According to him, Burnham lake Drive and Juan Luna Drive will be kept open all the time to prevent the occurrence of monstrous traffic jams around the city, especially when Session road will be closed for a week from March 4 to 10, 2019 to pave the way for its conversion into a virtual promenade area through the put up of sidewalk cafes among other flower-inspired stalls, to lessen the inconvenience of motorists and commuters.
Domogan underscored landscapers are already the institutional partner of the organizers and the local government in the annual conduct of the festival because they are the ones that provide added attractions to the exposition and exhibition with the presence of their floral decorations among others that will be in display during the duration of the flower festival.
By Dexter A. See
