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U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of the Mission Leslie Bassett Joins Baguio Centennial Celebrations

Leslie Bassett (right), new Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy, works with a Baguio State University (BSU) student on Walt Whitman’s poem “I Hear America Singing” during a visit September 1-2 to participate in the celebration of the city’s centennial. In 1901 the American-led government in the Philippines established Baguio City. American teachers introduced a new public school system in the country, and their best known training venue, the Teacher’s Camp, was opened in Baguio in 1908. BSU today hosts a Peace Corps volunteer who teaches English and conducts a sports program. The Peace Corps program in the Philippines has 130 volunteers in 40 provinces.
Some of the American teachers who came to the Philippines in the early 1900s to start a new public school system and train Filipino teachers pose for a picture at Baguio’s Teachers Camp. Known as the Thomasites, after the ship USS Thomas that transported the biggest batch of American teachers to the Philippines in 1901, the teachers frequented the Teachers Camp for their training and rest. The Thomasites are sometimes referred to as the predecessors of American Peace Corps Volunteers today. U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Leslie Bassett visited Baguio on September 1-2 to participate in the celebration of the city’s centennial year. The Peace Corps program in the Philippines has 130 volunteers in 40 provinces.
As part of her visit to Baguio City on September 1-2 to participate in the celebration of the city’s centennial, U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Leslie Bassett (right) takes a tour of the Baguio Country Club’s The Raisin Bread Shop with Pastry Chef Art Nucasa (left). The Baguio Country Club, which was established by American in the 1900s, is famous for its raisin bread as well as for a wide variety of homemade cakes and pastries. The Raisin Bread Shop uses an average of 2,500 kg. of raisins per month, and 4,400 kg on Christmas holiday months. The raisins, as well as almonds, walnuts, pecans, pistachios, and macadamias are imported from California.
Leslie Bassett (left), Deputy Chief of the Mission of the U.S. Embassy, salutes the colors of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) during a visit in Baguio City September 1-2 to participate in the celebration of the city’s centennial. After the Spanish rule of the country in the late 1800s, the American-led government in the Philippines established Baguio in 1900, and the Philippine Assembly incorporated it as a city in 1909. The U.S. and Philippines engage in several cooperation initiatives, including the PMA hosting the U.S. Air Force Academy’s one-week cadet exchange program.
U.S. Forces raise the American and Philippine flags in Baguio after retaking the city from the Japanese Imperial Army towards the end of World War II in 1942. The American-led government in the Philippines established Baguio City in 1900 and the Philippine Assembly incorporated it as a city in 1909. U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Leslie Basset visited Baguio on September 1-2 to participate in the celebration of the city’s centennial.
U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of the Mission Leslie Bassett (right) and Patrick Wall (left) of the U.S. Embassy Foreign Commercial Services are welcomed by Bing Viera, President of Texas Instruments (TI) Philippines, Inc. (middle) at the company’s facility in Baguio City. Ms. Basset visited Baguio on September 1-2 to participate in the celebration of the city’s centennial. One of today’s symbols of continuing American investors’ preference to locate in the Philippines’ summer capital, TI Philippines was established in Baguio in 1980.
William Cameron Forbes (right, back row) and guests pose for a photo at his residence in Topside, Baguio, circa 1908. Forbes was then secretary of commerce and of the police. He built the residence to help encourage Baguio’s development as a residential and business center aside from being the country’s top summer resort. U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Leslie Basset visited Baguio on September 1-2 to participate in the celebration of the city’s centennial.
American and Filipino teachers and their guests have lunch in the Social Hall of the Teacher’s camp in Baguio in 1912. The Camp officially opened in 1908 to admit all American teachers from all over the country. U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Leslie Basset visited Baguio on September 1-2 to participate in the celebration of the city’s centennial.

Last Update :: 09/10/2009

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