ANGELES CITY – “The world-class aspiration of the Clark Freeport will never come to full realization without an established medical facility thereat to meet the needs of the locators and the contingencies at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport.”
Thus said the Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement (PGKM) as it renewed its call for the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) “to effect the establishment of a world-class medical center at the Freeport.”
The PGKM, broad-based coalition of advocates for the development of Clark, had sounded a similar call sometime in 2003, for the rehabilitation of the former US Air Force Regional Medical Facility at Clark, which was heavily damaged by the Mt. Pinatubo eruptions and looted of its contents in the aftermath.
At its peak, the USAF medical facility was considered the most modern and best equipped in the whole Asia-Pacific region. It has since been used as location for horror movies as well as training site for close-quarter combat by the police and the military, and game site for paint-gun and air-soft gun enthusiasts.
Last year, the CDC entered a P2-billion contract with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. for the ruins of the medical facility and its contiguous areas to be transformed into a gaming and entertainment resort center.
“Our calls fell on deaf ears then, given that certain vested interests among the powers-that-be at the CDC ran in conflict with a Clark hospital,” said PGKM Chairman Ruperto L. Cruz. “We learned from employees of the CDC and the various locators at that time that their medical needs were being catered to allegedly by the Angeles University Foundation Medical Center. And we all know that the CDC and the AUFMC shared the same top man then.”
The “leaps and bounds by which the Freeport has moved since then in terms of investments and employment generation, plus the increase in air traffic at the DMIA highlighted the need for a Clark hospital.”
“A major accident at the airport – God forbid – will most certainly turn into a world class catastrophe without a hospital at Clark. Imagine moving the casualties from the Freeport to the various hospitals in the city through the traffic chokepoints,” Cruz said to stress the need for the hospital.
Currently, the health facilities at Clark consisted of the small CDC clinic, the smaller Mimosa clinic and the emergency hospital of the Philippine Air Force, which by “hospital standards could classify as lesser than a local government district hospital.”
“With the vision and determination of CDC President Benny Ricafort to take Clark to its full potential, we believe our calls for a world-class Clark hospital will be heard this time,” Cruz said.
Thus said the Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement (PGKM) as it renewed its call for the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) “to effect the establishment of a world-class medical center at the Freeport.”
The PGKM, broad-based coalition of advocates for the development of Clark, had sounded a similar call sometime in 2003, for the rehabilitation of the former US Air Force Regional Medical Facility at Clark, which was heavily damaged by the Mt. Pinatubo eruptions and looted of its contents in the aftermath.
At its peak, the USAF medical facility was considered the most modern and best equipped in the whole Asia-Pacific region. It has since been used as location for horror movies as well as training site for close-quarter combat by the police and the military, and game site for paint-gun and air-soft gun enthusiasts.
Last year, the CDC entered a P2-billion contract with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. for the ruins of the medical facility and its contiguous areas to be transformed into a gaming and entertainment resort center.
“Our calls fell on deaf ears then, given that certain vested interests among the powers-that-be at the CDC ran in conflict with a Clark hospital,” said PGKM Chairman Ruperto L. Cruz. “We learned from employees of the CDC and the various locators at that time that their medical needs were being catered to allegedly by the Angeles University Foundation Medical Center. And we all know that the CDC and the AUFMC shared the same top man then.”
The “leaps and bounds by which the Freeport has moved since then in terms of investments and employment generation, plus the increase in air traffic at the DMIA highlighted the need for a Clark hospital.”
“A major accident at the airport – God forbid – will most certainly turn into a world class catastrophe without a hospital at Clark. Imagine moving the casualties from the Freeport to the various hospitals in the city through the traffic chokepoints,” Cruz said to stress the need for the hospital.
Currently, the health facilities at Clark consisted of the small CDC clinic, the smaller Mimosa clinic and the emergency hospital of the Philippine Air Force, which by “hospital standards could classify as lesser than a local government district hospital.”
“With the vision and determination of CDC President Benny Ricafort to take Clark to its full potential, we believe our calls for a world-class Clark hospital will be heard this time,” Cruz said.
