Beach in Baguio City? Why city’s Valentine’s Day weather update gained online buzz

February 15, 2023 - 11:25 AM
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Baguio City PIO;s weather update on Valentine's Day in 2023 featured a beach and palm trees (pio.baguio/Facebook)

An information office’s page’s post for Valentine’s Day earned buzz after it used an edited file photo of a beach.

Baguio City‘s Public Information Office on February 14 posted a weather update that informing the public that the city reached the lowest temperature of the day.

The poster particularly indicated that the has at a 13.5°C temperature as of 7 a.m. of Tuesday, citing the state weather bureau.

“Mahal kita, mahal mo siya, mahal niya iba. Bahala ka!” the post reads.

It also added PAGASA’s regional weather advisory for the day, which reads: “Bahagyang maulap hanggang sa maulap na papawirin na may mahihinang mga pag-ulan ang mararanasan sa mga lalawigan ng Abra, Benguet, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Kalinga at Apayao dulot ng Hanging Amihan.”

The photo that the office used, however, featured a beach with palm trees. There are no beaches in Baguio City because it is located on a plateau.

This poster later gained buzz on the platform. It has so far garnered 1,200 reactions, 101 comments and 138 shares.

Several Facebook users also noticed the edited photo. They questioned it in a lighthearted way in the comments section.

“Yan na ba ang Burnham lake? Blue na talaga ang kulay, lumawak pa tas may mga puno pa ng niyog,” a Facebook user quipped.

“Saan parte kaya ng Baguio City ang beach na yan mapuntahan nga,” another Facebook user commented.

“Kailan pa nagkaroon ng dagat sa Baguio/Benguet?” another Facebook user asked.

Baguio City’s PIO administrator replied to one of them. It stated that the photo used was just a “file photo.”

“Hindi po sa Baguio ito. File photo lang po,” its comment reads.

The Facebook administrator did not indicate the source of the photo.

Details in the post’s weather update, meanwhile, are correct.

In the 24-hour weather bulletin, PAGASA advised partially cloudy to cloudy skies due to the northeast monsoon in the following provinces at the north of Luzon:

  • Batanes
  • Cagayan
  • Isabela
  • Quirino
  • Nueva Vizcaya
  • Ilocos Norte
  • Ilocos Sur
  • La Union
  • Pangasinan
  • Abra
  • Benguet
  • Mountain Province
  • Ifugao
  • Kalinga
  • Apayao
  • Aurora

The lowest temperature recorded in tourist areas in Baguio City is 14°C. The highest is 24°C.