CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Gov. Lilia Pineda on Tuesday said Mabalacat local officials and their constituents should capitalize on economic opportunities and developments once the northern Pampanga town becomes a component city.
“Of course, I am supporting Mabalacat’s bid to be city. Perhaps our province is among the few provinces with three cities. I am proud of it,” said Pineda in the dialect.
President Aquino last May signed Republic Act 10164, declaring the 300-year-old town as a component city. A plebiscite is set on July 21.
Pineda said the town with 27 barangays “has all the potentials to be a very progressive city.” Its location, she added, is among the flood-free areas in the province.
Pineda said she will work closely with Mayor Marino “Boking” Morales to ensure the improvement of roads and other infrastructures in the town named after a balacat tree, a fourth-class timber whose bark has been proven to have antimicrobial properties.
“I am sure that Mayor Boking will improve the delivery of more basic and social services,” she added.
Pineda doused rumors circulating around the town that the provincial government will no longer support the town once it becomes a city. She added that the law states that component cities will still be under the host province unlike highly urbanized ones.
“Whatever Mabalacat will become after the plebiscite on July 21, I will support it and its people. Public service has no boundaries, especially in times of needs,” added Pineda.
The first-term governor said Mabalacat “is like the major gateway to international and local growth destinations.”
She was referring to the proximity of the town to the Clark Freeport and its international airport and the superhighways linking it to Tarlac, Zambales, Bataan, Nueva Ecija and Metro Manila.
Pineda noted that at least 80 percent of the some 4,500-hectare land area of Clark Freeport belongs to Mabalacat’s territory.
She thanked President Aquino and both chambers of Congress for approving the bills and the subsequent law that made Mabalacat a city.
For his part, Mayor Morales said “I and the rest of the people deeply thank the governor for endorsing our cityhood bid.”
He added that education, health, livelihood, employment and peace and order are among his government’s priorities once Mabalacat becomes a city.
