With hotels fully booked, Baguio tourists forced to sleep in their cars

Some tourists have chosen to stay inside their vehicles in Burnham Park as hotels and transient houses in Baguio City went almost fully booked for the Holy Week.

One such case was Flordeliza Gonzales' family who came all the way from Iligan City, and could not find a cheap hotel, according to a GMA News "24 Oras" report by Katrina Son on Wednesday.

"Nagrenta lang kami ng van at saka dito lang kami nagpapahimga kasi malamig," said Flordeliza Gonzales.

Baguio City has reached its peak season, when hotel accomodation can be both scarce and pricey.

Other tourists had no choice but to sleep in their vans.

Authorities reminded tourists to ensure they already have accommodations before going up to Baguio City.

"Naglalaro ang kanilang occupancy from 92-100%, even transient housing maganda ang kanilang negosyo ngayong Holy Week. I would rather na mag-book na sila bago sila umakyat dahil mahirap po na mag-walk in at umasa na lang kung may bakanteng kuwartong maaabutan," said Andrew Pinero, Media Officer, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Baguio.

While staying overnight inside their vehicles at Burnham Park is not prohibited, authorities said it is also not advisable.

"It's something that we do not really encourage too much because we cannot assure the safety," said Aloysius Mapalo from the Baguio Tourism Office.

Authorities, however, assured security in the place, and are targeting to achieve a "zero crime rate."

"The police is doing its job and I think we intend to sustain that hindi tataas or ize-zero natin 'yung criminality sana," said Police Brigadier General Ephraim Dickson, Regional Director, Cordillera PNP.

Aside from the fully-booked hotels, traffic has also become a problem in Baguio City, which is expected to worsen Wednesday night. — Jamil Santos/MDM, GMA News