II. Background of the Study

The Benguet Province occupies the southern tip of the Cordillera Mountain Range in the northern part of the Luzon Island. It is bounded on the north by Ilocos Sur and Mountain Province, on the east by Ifugao and Nueva Vizcaya, on the west by La Union, and on the south by Pangasinan. Benguet is a landlocked province of the Philippines located in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR). The province is subdivided into 13 municipalities and 1 city, where La Trinidad is the provincial capital. The only city is Baguio City. It is located in the interior of the province. It used to be a part of Benguet but became independent when its charter was enacted in 1909.

Baguio is probably the only American city existing in the Philippines today. The architecture of its government buildings, its summer cottages and parks, and its streets are testaments to the influence of its American founders who conquered the Cordillera highland in the 1990s. It has survived countless upheavals that altered its landscape. It witnessed the horrors of World War II and the devastation wrought by the killer earthquake of 1990.

Known to many as the Summer Capital of the Philippines, Baguio was built as a colonial hill station of the Americans at the turn of the 20th century. Nestled 1,500 meters above sea on the plateaus of Benguet, Baguio became the official residence and recreational center of American officers and citizens in the Philippines who either wanted to recuperate from illnesses or to simply get away from the heat of the tropics.

As one of the countrys top tourist destination, Baguio draws an average of 50,000 tourists a month, according to records of the local Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA). The citys main routes were named after American consuls and officials who introduced early civilization and development in this mountain resort as early as 1900. The road construction was modeled after the British and Dutch mountain resorts in South Asia and the Netherlands East Indies.

Session Road is the main thoroughfare of Baguio City and its commercial center, with a variety of shops, stores and offices lining each side. Session Road is so named because it was the site of the Philippine Commission's first session.Session Road leads up to the old Baden-Powell Hall, where the second Philippine Commission held its sessions from April 22 to June 11, 1904 and officially initiated the use of Baguio as the Philippine Summer Capital. The Philippine Commission was the body appointed by the Presidentof the United States of America to exercise legislative and limitedexecutive powers during its occupation of the Philippines. The FirstPhilippine Commission was appointed by President William McKinley in1899, but it was the Second Philippine Commission, constituted in 1901, that held its sessions in Baguio City.Session Road is divided in two sections: Upper Session Road and Lower Session Road. Upper Session Road starts from the Post Office and the foot of Luneta Hill all the way to the rotunda of South Drive, Military Cut-off Road and Loakan Road, while Lower Session Road runs from Governor Pack Road and Baguio Cathedral down to Baguios version of Manilas Plaza Miranda, the Malcolm Square. Like any other landmark in Baguio City, the Malcolm Square is also named after an American official. It is named after George A. Malcolm, a lawyer. He was appointed at age 35 as the Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, by then U.S. President Woodrow Wilson in 1917, where he served until 1936, when he was forced to retire upon the enactment of 1935 Constitution, which limited the Supreme Court membership to Filipinos. One of his greatest contributions was the establishment of the University of the Philippines College of Law that started in the original campus at Padre Faura in Manila.

Malcolm Square is a small public auditorium at the north end of Session Road, a popular place for free concerts, meetings, promos, and other public and private activities. It is a place where political rallies and debates are held.

As years passed by, Malcolm Squares structure deteriorated and has been found to have cracks, leaks and other visible casualties. In order to preserve the structure, the City Government of Baguio then planned on restoring it.

On regular session held on 15 August 2011, Hon. Elmer O. Datuin introduced a Resolution Numbered 272 (Series of 2011) entitled as RESOLVING TO DEMOLISH AND TO CONSTRUCT THE MALCOLM SQUARE AND RESTORE IT TO ITS ORIGINAL CONDITION AS A PLAZA.

WHEREAS, Malcolm Square or sometimes known as the Plaza has been the traditional event area for all kinds of public and private activities in the City of Baguio since time immemorial;

WHEREAS, Malcolm Square has been the venue of important events both in the political and in the entertainment fields and was the place sought after by several event organizers as it is the ideal meeting place and open to the public;

WHEREAS, Malcolm Square was part of the total design of the city by our city planners as a breathing space within a commercial and economic zone and it has previously served well its purpose because of its simple and appropriate design catering to various activities;

WHEREAS, the present design which was supposed to address various concerns in the previous design has not served its purpose as the design is not people-friendly or the stage design is not suited for the activity and was even described by some local newspapers as an architectural monstrosity;

WHEREAS, Malcolm Square has lost its grandeur and intended purpose as very few activities can actually be conducted by different organizations attributed primarily to the design of the stage and seating area;

WHEREAS, the present structure has been in place for almost ten years and whatever money had been spent to upgrade it previously has already been recovered; andWHEREAS, a brand new Malcolm Square will lure back our people to purely public infrastructure strictly managed by the City Government of Baguio free from any commercial promotion and undertaking favoring only the commercial owner:

NOW, THEREFORE, on motion of Hon. Datuin and Hon. Cario, seconded by Hon. Aliping, Hon. Cosalan, Hon. Tabanda and Hon. Weygan-Allan, be it RESOLVED, as it is hereby resolved, to demolish and construct the Malcolm Square and to restore its original condition as a plaza.

RESOLVED, FURTHER, to include the construction and restoration of the Malcolm Square as a priority infrastructure project in the 2012 Annual Budget of the City Government of Baguio.

RESOLVED, FURTHER, that the plan for the proposed construction shall be submitted to the Sangguniang Panlungsod (City Council) for approval.

On May 2013, as mentioned in an article of Sun Star Baguio, Councilor Elmer Datuin, Committee on Tourism, Special Events, Parks and Playgrounds chairman, mentioned that a P7.8 million fund is available for the renovation of Malcolm Square. The City Building and Architecture Office also known as CBAO have submitted a design wherein the 15-year old public structure will be demolished to give way to a more structurally sound stage and roofing to protect performers and audiences. In the design prepared by CBAO, Malcolm Square will still remain an open space for people to gather in the Central Business District with only improvements such as a defined stage of the public park in which a small dressing room and a comfort room for performers will be constructed. CBAO, in its initial design, also proposed fencing for the park to protect performers and audiences, as well as a small guard house for the safety and security the public parks facilities. CBAOs design also includes the provision of ornamental plants and flowers in the landscaping of the park. The marker of George Malcolm will also be cleaned up and repainted to bring prominence. Datuin said that the plan submitted by CBAO is not yet final and the public will still be consulted about it. The project has been planned to be bidden upon the same month and start the month after, but no implementation has been made within that year.On February 2014, the Baguio City council scrutinized the plans and specifications for the rehabilitation of Malcolm square submitted earlier by CBAO that is to start on March 3, 2014. They invited the acting City Building and Architecture Officer, Jhonny Degay to explain the program of work for the renovation area. On March 2014, a report says that the Baguio City council recently approved the program of work for the rehabilitation of Malcolm Square subjected to changes from suggestions made by the members. The aldermen said that the proposed design should depict Cordilleran culture and suggested some changes in the plans and specifications particularly the putting up of a shed at the entire area for protection during rains. They proposed the use of people-friendly tiles for the floor, widening of the entrance of the comfort room for the persons with disability, improvement of the lighting facility and the beautification of the areas surrounding the square. The work will cover the demolition of the existing stage and shed and construction of a new stage and support structures and improvement of drainage system. Datuin has mentioned that whatever final plan for the rehabilitation, the public will still be asked about it. That is the reason why the researchers would like to study the social acceptability of the rehabilitation of Malcom Square. As Hanger (2011) said, the social acceptance of development projects is in everyones interest: the industry, our government leaders, the business community and private citizens. It is a call for collaboration and consensus. Claytor (2007) introduced two ways to describe the end result of any project: whether it is successful and whether it is accepted. A successful project is one that accomplishes its intended purpose or achieves a stated goal. A project that is accepted receives a favorable reception and is met with approval by the various stakeholder groups. Ideally, a project will be both highly successful and highly accepted. In this paper, the researchers want to know if the project will be highly accepted by the stakeholders of Malcolm Square.

http://www.islandsproperties.com/places/benguet.htm - Benguethttp://www.philippine-islands.ph/en/benguet-philippines.html - Benguethttp://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2479&dat=20010905&id=MqhjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hiUMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1720,31056187 - Baguio History and Malcolm Squarehttp://www.gobaguio.com/session-road-baguio-city.html#.VC1K7qjoglk Session Roadhttp://www.gobaguio.com/americans-and-baguio.html#.VCpuP6joglk George Malcolm