CIAC security forces lead a demolition team to dismantle shanties and makeshift vending stalls at the old Clark Farm Fresh Market upon the instructions of CIAC President Aaron Aquino. The move was the latest in a series of demolition jobs by CIAC to rid the Clark Civil Aviation Complex of ‘eyesores’. (CIAC-ASD)
CLARK FREEPORT — A once popular destination of farm-fresh produce inside Clark has been cleared of illegal structures on Saturday, an executive of Clark International Airport Corp. said.
CIAC President Aaron Aquino said shanties and makeshift eateries fronting the old site of the Clark Farm Fresh Market have been removed by the aviation security group.
“When everyone else was clearing debris from the aftermath (of typhoon Ulysses), we cleared the frontage of this iconic commercial site from ugly shanties and shacks,” Aquino said.
The Clark Farm Fresh Market, popularly known as ‘Candaba wet market’, was established in 2011 in a 20,337-sq. m area near the Clark International Airport at the civil aviation complex managed by CIAC.
The site was a joint project of the provincial government of Pampanga and the Clark Development Corp. and was frequented by locals and tourists looking for fresh produce from Candaba town.
Since the CDC declared the dilapitated site a condemned building in 2019, the CIAC has cordoned off the site as deterrent to illegal occupants.
“But illegal settlers and vendors took advantage of the abandoned building so these prohibited structures have to go for two main reasons——the condemned building endangers lives, and these shanties are just plain and simple ugly,” Aquino said.
He added that CIAC is drawing up plans to totally demolish the old one and build a modern site, citing that future locators of the new commercial site may include a showroom for locally-made delicacies and products.
The move was the latest in a series of demolition jobs by CIAC to rid the Clark Civil Aviation Complex of ‘eyesores’.
