Perspective of the City College of Angeles.
ANGELES CITY – “The political harmony between the city council and the mayor paved the way for the immediate fulfillment of priority projects on health and education, including the City College of Angeles (CCA).”
Thus said Vice Mayor Vicky Vega-Cabigting who is expected to join Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan in the groundbreaking rites of the CCA at the Agyu Tamu complex here on Thursday. It is beside the Angeles City National High School in Barangay Pampang.
“We credit the mayor for his participative style of governance allowing pro-poor projects to be done in just more than a year since we won together,” said Cabigting.
She added that “Pamintuan would often consult us and other sectors of the community” concerning various projects like the CCA and the renal care unit. “He doesn’t decide by himself but would listen to all concerned parties.”
The CCA is expected to operate in June and will be ready for the start of classes next year.
Jessie Cruz, a resident of Barangay Balibago, said that “because of the city college, my two kids can now have the chance to study in college.” Cruz works as a delivery boy of mineral water in nearby Mabalacat town.
For her part, Councilor Maricel Morales said “the CCA will empower women and children allowing them to live decently and avoid abuses.”
IDEAL SCHOOL
In a phone interview, City Administrator Atty. Dennis Albert Pamintuan said they allotted at least P320 million for the public college of the city. He said the three-floor building will have a gym with a covered court and “the very expensive septic tank.”
Included in the budget are the basic school equipment such as chairs, tables, blackboards and electric fans.
“If we had not included them, we will be forced to spend another P30 million,” he added.
EDUCATION IS KEY
For his part, Pamintuan said “education is placed as a top priority of my administration.”
“The efforts of the Angeles City government are focused in advancing and furthering not only the management of our education system, but also in providing access to our people of the opportunities to quality education,” he added.
The construction of the CCA is a result of Pamintuan’s decision to put priority on education rather than the sports complex that the previous administration has programmed.
“Although education and sports are related, I thought it was more prudent and beneficial to build an educational facility rather than a sports complex,” the mayor stressed.
Councilor Edu Pamintuan, chairman of the committee on education, said the CCA “was a result of hard work by the council and the mayor.”
“Not to mention the dedicated city hall officials and employees of the mayor,” added Edu, who authored the ordinance allowing the establishment of a city college.
The city college will offer courses that are market-responsive and will correspond to the needs of locators at Clark Freeport and the emerging enterprises in Angeles City, said the City Information Office.
At present, there are more than 3,000 job vacancies in Clark, but locators are having problems in recruitment due to apparent mismatch of the skills and training of the available manpower with the requirements of the job vacancies, it added.
In a related development, the city government has increased its allocations for the Agyu Tamu tertiary scholarship fund from P4 million last year to P5 million this year.
The first-term mayor, Cabigting, members of the council and city officials led by Alex Cauguiran and Jessie Eres also worked for the establishment of the first-ever renal care center at the Rafael Lazatin Memorial Medical Center.
