
Session Road is a six-lane major road in
Baguio
Baguio ( , , ), officially the City of Baguio (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...
, Philippines. The entire road forms part of National Route 231 (N231) of the
Philippine highway network
The Philippine highway network is a network of highway, national roads owned and maintained by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and organized into three classifications according to their function or purpose: national primar ...
.
Route description
Session Road is the main thoroughfare of
Baguio
Baguio ( , , ), officially the City of Baguio (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...
in the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
and is the main hub of what is called the Baguio Central Business District.
Lower Session Road
The Lower Session Road extends eastward from Magsaysay Avenue (opposite the Plaza or kilometer zero and Malcolm Square) running through the BCBD until the intersections of Father Carlu Street (towards the
Baguio Cathedral and Upper Bonifacio Street) and Governor Pack Road. This is the area where businesses are located, among others banks, shops, restaurants, bakeries, hotels, newsstands, boutiques, and studios.
Upper Session Road
The Upper Session Road extends from Post Office Loop, Leonard Wood Road, and the foot of Luneta Hill (where SM City Baguio is located) to the rotunda cutting toward South Drive (towards Baguio Country Club), Loakan Road (towards
Camp John Hay, Loakan Airport,
Philippine Military Academy
The Philippine Military Academy ( / ) also referred to by its acronym PMA is the premier military academy for Filipinos aspiring for a commission as a military officer of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). It was established on Decembe ...
, Baguio City Economic Zone, and the mine areas of
Itogon, Benguet), and Military Cut-Off (towards Kennon Road).
History
Session Road derives its name from the fact that it used to lead up to the old Baden-Powell Hall, where the
Philippine Commission
The Philippine Commission was the name of two bodies, both appointed by the president of the United States, to assist with governing the Philippines.
The First Philippine Commission, also known as the Schurman Commission, was appointed by Pre ...
held its sessions from April 22 to June 11, 1904, and officially initiated the use of Baguio as the Philippine Summer Capital. The Commission was composed of Governor General
Luke E. Wright, president, and Commissioners
Henry Ide,
Dean Conant Worcester,
Trinidad Pardo de Tavera
Trinidad Hermenegildo José María Juan Francisco Pardo de Tavera y Gorricho (13 April 1857 – 26 March 1925) was a Filipino physician, historian and politician of Spanish and Portuguese descent who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the First ...
,
Benito Legarda, Jose de Luzuriaga,
James Francis Smith and
William Cameron Forbes
William Cameron Forbes (May 21, 1870 – December 24, 1959) was an American investment banker and diplomat. He served as governor-general of the Philippines from 1909 to 1913 and ambassador of the United States to Japan from 1930 to 1932.
Ear ...
. A marker by what is now Baden-Powell Inn, beside the enormous bus terminals on
Governor Pack Road, stands as the only visible evidence that anything of historical significance ever took place on Session Road.
Session Road used to host Japanese bazaars in the 1920s and 1930s. During World War II, the road was almost obliterated when the Americans bombed Baguio to liberate it from the Japanese.
The road was also part of Highway 11 or Route 11 that served the
Cordillera Range.
Intersections
In popular culture
A local Philippine band called
sessiOnroad based their name on the famous thoroughfare.
References
External links
*
{{Major roads in Benguet
Baguio
Roads in Benguet
Shopping districts and streets in the Philippines