Benjamin Bañez Magalong

Benjamin "Benjie" Bañez Magalong (born December 15, 1960, in Baguio City) is the incumbent Mayor of Baguio, serving since 2019. He is a retired police general renowned for his 38 years in the Philippine National Police, where he held key posts such as Deputy Chief for Operations, chief of the Cordillera Regional Police, and director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management. A 1982 Philippine Military Academy graduate (Magna Cum Laude, Sandigan Class), Magalong also attended advanced international training including the FBI National Academy and specialized crisis-management courses in the U.S. As mayor, he ran on a platform of expedited governance, environmental restoration, aggressive traffic and peace-and-order strategies, tourism, youth empowerment, and market modernization. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he gained national recognition as the government’s contact-tracing czar, having crafted an eff