Baguio City is used to honoring honest taxicab drivers and medical frontliners. 

Now it is honoring one of its swan boats after it was returned to Burnham Lake. 

The boat made of resin in the shape of a swan was one of the 4 boats lent by boating concessionaire Vivian Celso last November to Tuguegarao City and nearby towns after the opening of the gates of Magat Dam inundated the city. 

Originally expected to help ferry stranded residents, they were more used to carry supplies. 

Must Read

Burnham Park tourist boats tapped for Cagayan Valley rescue operations

The swan boat, the only one in the fleet as the rest were pontoon boats, was a favorite of Cagayan children.   

While in Cagayan, the Baguio boats ferried residents of barangays Anquiray and Abollo for their needs and doubled as a form of recreation for children traumatized by the deluge.

They were returned recently to Burnham Lake but not without the proper honor ceremony set by Baguio City police chief Colonel Allan Rae Co. 

“What I know is they are still for hire but with her special marks, the swan boat now has added attraction and novelty apart from being a symbol of generosity and selflessness of the people of Baguio,”  Co said. 

The flooding of Tuguegarao City last November, said to be the worst in more than a decade, was caused by Typhoon Ulysses (Vamco), which devastated the northeastern part of Luzon. 

The resulting rains filled the Magat reservoir which then opened its gates and flooded Cagayan Valley. – Rappler.com