SWING. Aeta kids find a playground in the swaying Haduan footbridge.
PHOTO BY BONG LACSON
CLARK FREEPORT – A footbridge that connects the main zone of this freeport to its sprawling sub-zone or more particularly to Sitio Haduan, Barangay Marcos Village, Mabalacat City across the Sacobia River was finally inaugurated on Friday.
The footbridge is part of the 11 commitments of the Clark Development Corp. to the Haduan Tribal Council in July 2007 which also included among others the establishment of a health center in the community and a concrete hollow block making facility as part of the Aeta livelihood program which were also launched on the same day.
Presiding the inauguration rites were CDC President-CEO Arthur P. Tugade, Mabalacat City Mayor Marino “Boking” Morales and BB International Leisure and Resort Development Corp. (BBI) President Dr. Irineo “Bong” G. Alvaro, Jr. BBI is developing the area into a world class tourism facility.
The 120-meter span which is about a meter wide hangs some 25 meters above the riverbed and supported by three-inch thick steel cables anchored on concrete foundations on both banks of the river. During the inauguration, Larry Lingay, president of the Mabalacat Aeta Tribal Association (MATA) expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the CDC for initiating the construction of the footbridge.
He said the footbridge makes it easier for Aetas to bring their goods to the lowlands especially during the rainy season. He said without the footbridge, the Aetas take a longer and difficult route through the riverbed to reach the lowlands with their goods.
Lingay also expressed his thanks to Tugade for the newly constructed community health center since Aetas can now rely on immediate medical attention unlike before when a mother died from complications due to childbirth because of the lack of medical facility in their community.
Mayor Morales thanked stakeholders in the area especially BBI and the Fontana Leisure Parks for sharing in the funding for the construction of the footbridge. The CDC, BBI and Fontana put in an equal amount of P500,000 each for a total of P1.5 million for the construction cost.
Tugade said the CDC Engineering Department worked on the construction of the footbridge for two months.
The CDC president also expressed elation with the completion of the bridge saying it opens further opportunities for the stakeholders as well as for the Aetas especially in eco-tourism. “If plans will be realized in the soonest possible time,” Tugade said, then Clark-Mabalacat can also become “the center of eco-tourism in Central Luzon.”
There is the lake made by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, there is the boulder which eventually blocked the lahar from fl owing into the Sacobia River, there is also nature’s trek in summer and white water rafting during the rainy season and a nearby waterfalls, he said. There is also the possibility of cable cars being set-up across the river as envisioned by Alvaro, he said.
In parting, Tugade enjoined the Aetas to take care of the facilities in order to preserve them for the benefit of their tribes.
