CLARK FREEPORT – A multi-million-peso civic center on a 12-hectare lot in Barangay San Isidro is now rising in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga’s capital city.
Mayor Edwin “EdSa” D. Santiago, who was guest of the Balitaan media forum organized by the Capampangan in Media, Inc. in cooperation with the Clark Development Corp. at the Bale Balita here last Friday, said proudly that the Civic Center is being put up debt-free.
“So, now we are finishing two schools there (stand-alone K to 12) as well as a “tech book,” and a command and control center costing P220 million,” he said.
The mayor also said a permanent evacuation center, which was funded through 3rd District Rep. Dong Gonzales; two senior citizens’ centers, a youth development center, a city park, a drug special education center, a sports center, and satellite offi ces are now being constructed in the CSF Civic Center.
In connection with this, Santiago said being readied now is a tourism road that will connect the towns of Sta. Rita and Lubao to the NLEx Mexico exit to Barangays Anao and Arenas, Arayat and then Nueva Ecija.
The mayor revealed: “Manny Pacquiao will put up a big convention center in Calulut which will begin construction next month.”
Because of this, Santiago said he has requested Mexico Mayor Teddy Tumang to put up a service road parallel to NLEx from Mexico to Pau, in Sto. Tomas town and Pandaras in the city.
He said he has no qualms in asking his fellow mayors for infrastructure development “because in order to succeed, we need the collaboration of everybody even the private sector and the academe.”
Santiago said in San Fernando, a child development center is prioritized.
“We model it from France, Germany and Japan. It will serve kids 0-2 years old and 2-4 years old before we introduce them to preschool,” he said.
“That is why CSF is No. 1 in the National Achievement Test in the region because we focus on education,” Santiago said.
The mayor said “values” should be taught. “Dakal a biyasa pero ela magaling, dakal a magaling pero ela matinu, dakal a matinu ala lang pusu, dakal atin pusu ela makibahagi (There are many who are intelligent but they are not wise, there are many who are wise but they are not proper, there are many who are proper but they have no heart, and there are many who have heart but they do not cooperate),” Santiago said.
“It should be complete, that is the purpose of education that is why we build a civic center that is owned by the government, that is owned by the people, that is why it is called civic center,” he said. “Only in San Fernando, it is the people who own the civic center not the officials.”
