Hello again Brothers and Sisters,
How are you all? I hope you’re excited for the upcoming APLA in Baguio next week. Please bear with this final set of announcements and reminders. I apologize if I’ve had to be thorough in my reminders to you because this is the Panagbenga weekend, and we we want your stay to be as convenient and hassle-free as possible. I will go through these again on February 23 but I would like to give them to you now for your advance perusal.
A. Baguio Traffic Regulations
(This is highly important to disciples who are traveling by car.)
First, coding is suspended on Saturdays and Sundays only. There is no announcement yet on the other dates next week, so please be mindful of the day when your car is on coding.
*Car Plates Ending with the Following Numbers:
- 1 or 2 – Mondays
- 3 or 4 – Tuesdays
- 5 or 6 – Wednesdays
- 7 or 8 – Thursdays
- 9 or 0 – Fridays
The coding restriction is from 7 AM to 7 PM, so please time your trip so that you can be at the venue before 7 AM on the day of your arrival if your car is on coding that day. (Pine Breeze allows early check in if your room has no occupants the night before your arrival. Gestdan’s check in time is strictly 2 PM, but you can stay in Pine Breeze while waiting.) Coding violators will be fined P500 (you can get a coding pass for the same amount). For those coming from Marcos Highway or Kennon Road, this is your alternate route to Pine Breeze (you can use Waze or any GPS to guide you):
Legarda Road – Cariño Street – City Camp Quarry – Dominican (where Lourdes Grotto is) – Quezon Hill – Bokawkan Road
Secondly, please be aware that Baguio has recently implemented a strict no-parking rule on streets and roads with no designated parking spaces. Cars that are “illegally” parked will have their car plates removed and brought to the Baguio City Police Station (Upper Session Road, below SM), where they can be claimed from 8 AM to 5 PM Monday-Friday with a fine of P200. If you must park your car on a street or road and it’s not an official parking space, please keep your hazard lights on and do not leave your vehicle, and move your car as soon as possible.
Third, always wear your seat belts (both driver and front passenger/s) when driving around Baguio, especially around the central business district. These are the fines if the driver and front passengers are caught not wearing seat belts (for the driver and per passenger):
- P1000 – first offense
- P2000 – second offense
- P3000 – third offense
If you unknowingly and unintentionally break a traffic rule and are apprehended, please stay calm 😊, be humble, apologize, and inform the police that you are tourists who have limited knowledge of Baguio’s traffic regulations. Ask (while praying 😊) if it’s possible for you to be exempted the first time. If the police agreed, well and good.
Please relay these rules to other disciples from your church or sector who are traveling to Baguio by car.
B. Housing Payment
For those staying in Pine Breeze and Gestdan, since we’re getting the package rates, some disciples from different sectors/churches were combined in the units. Some also have different check in and check out dates. For these reasons, the facilities requested that I give the balances to them as a whole to avoid confusion. So kindly pay all your balances to me on February 22 or 23, and not to reception on the day of your departure. If possible, kindly collect the payments as a church or sector and give them to me as a whole also, but if you are staying as a family in your own unit or room, you can pay to me directly.
C. Meals
To those who ordered their meals and snacks for February 24 and 25, your orders and payments have already been received by the caterer, Ate Thelma Antonio (a sister). All meals and snacks are pre-packed and will be brought to Pine Breeze on those dates. Here is the schedule of meal distribution on both days:
- Breakfast and morning snacks – 7:00 AM
- Lunch and afternoon snacks – 12:00 PM
Please take not that we are not allowed to eat lunch in the Gestdan function hall, or else there will be a corkage fee of P150 per person per day. But we can bring our morning and afternoon snacks into the hall since our break times are short and not all of us have ordered snacks. We can eat our lunch in our units/rooms and anywhere on the Pine Breeze grounds.
If you were not able to order meals in advance, Ate Thelma will bring extra meals and snacks that you can buy on those days. All payments and balances can be paid directly to her on February 24.
D. Tours, Etc.
Please see the attached files on some of our additional activities. You don’t need to print out the attached information sheet because everyone will receive a hard copy of it on the first day of APLA. Additional sign ups for the Baguio tour and surfing activity on February 27 will be done here in Baguio. And of course, let’s please not forget our pasalubong for the Silab night. 😊
I hope these guidelines helped. Please be so kind to relay this information to other delegates in our sectors or churches. As usual, please feel free to reach out to me for any questions or concerns. Thank you so much for all your efforts and sacrifices. See you in Baguio next week!
