Morales at the hustings. FB photograb
MABALACAT CITY – The closure of the Clark-Mabalacat-Angeles Road (CMAR) continues to be the bane of motorists and the riding public as horrendous traffic continues to hound them.
The volume of vehicles exiting the Clark Freeport Zone during rush hours going to the MacArthur Highway or heading to the North Luzon Expressway constrict the Mabalacat Gate of the freeport.
The only solution is to open the CMAR northern extension to free it from the volume of vehicles during rush hours.
However, Mayor Cris Garbo has yet to open the CMAR extension even after almost six years of his administration citing the right-of-way (ROW) problem at CMAR’s northern extension and exit in Barangay Dolores here. He said the ROW hinders its opening but is ow with the legal department of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority.
But the mayor made that statement months ago during a media forum in Clark last year. “We will begin the construction of the extension which is about 70 meters by February or March next year,” Garbo said.
Now, former mayor Marino “Boking” Morales who is on a comeback to city hall vowed to open the road extension.
“Dolores and Tabun are the ideal access to and from CMAR. We will also request the opening of Dau gate,” he said in a text message.
Morales also bannered his “enduring legacies.” In a statement, Morales said “with the end in view of realizing our vision of making Mabalacat a city of peace, beauty and prosperity, we pursued and achieved the following legacies:
1. Mabalacat Cityhood via RA 10164.
2. The passing of RA 8466 Establishing the Mabalacat National High School in 1998 thru our efforts and the sponsorship of the late Cong. Carmelo “Tarzan” Lazatin.
3. Established the Mabalacat City College and other locally funded public high schools in Mabalacat.
4. New Mabalacat City hall in Xevera at no expense to the LGU thru the kindness and generosity of Mr Delfin Lee.
5. Three Mabalacat Birthing stations. One at Barangay Dapdap and two at Barangay Sapang Biabas.
6.Substantial increase in income from P33 Million in 1995 to 1P.7 Billion in 2017 when I stepped down.
7. Free housing for the victims of Mt Pinatubo thru our efforts and by way of the late Cong. Carmelo “Tarzan” Lazatin and thru the kindness of PGMA.
8. Non-displacement of the urban poor families at the PNR right of way from barangays Lakandula to Tabun thru our effort and kindness of PGMA.
9. Established the Mabalacat Dialysis Center at Barangay Sapang Biabas in 2017 before I stepped down.
10. Mabalacat Bus Terminal that spurred socio-economic development in the city.
11. RA. 9400- Mabalacat gaining possession of the bigger portion of Clark Feeport and Airport.
12. Land for the landless at barangays Dau, Mangalit, Duquit, sapang Biabas, and Bical.
13. Lobbied for the full-blown ingress-egress of Dau-Duquit and Mabiga interchanges in order to prevent derailment of economic activity on said areas thru the approval of PGMA.
14. Active participation of the multisectoral groups in community building by way of Barangay Day monthly activities among others.
15. Establishment of Caragan Festival – a tribute to our indigenous peoples ( Aeta Communities )
16. Three-time recipient of DILG (SGLG) Seal of good local governance from 2015 to 2017.
17. Establishment of the Mabalacat Tourism Office and the holding of the annual Miss Mabalacat, erection of the Goddess of world peace shrine, Capt. Collin Kelly Memorial, and Camp Dau memorial in Clark.
18. Making Mabalacat City a residential, commercial and industrial hub.
20. Concreting of all barangay roads excluding those that were not turned over to the city govt making all roads lead to Mabalacat City.
21. Commercialization of downtown Mabalacat (Poblacion)
22. Free burial for the less fortunate by establishing the Mabalacat Public Cemetery located at Barangay Mangalit.
With these achievements in place, we will pave the way to make Mabalacat the next Makati North of Manila,” Morales said.
