Lost in Clark

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    I DECIDED to bring my graduating class in the Marketing Research and Consumer Behaviour subjects on an exposure trip to the Clark Freeport Zone.

    I teach at the City College of San Fernando as a sort of simple pay back to my hometown and the young scholars, a portion of whom are persons with disabilities, who could not otherwise get a college education.

    This is a great project of former mayor and now congressman Oca Rodriguez. It continues to be supported by Mayor Edwin D. Santiago and Vice Mayor Jimmy Lazatin. There are around 800 students taking up business management, education and information and computer technology. They are not paying a single centavo.

    Most of them have part time work to help support their studies. The president, Dr. Lou Javier, the program directors and faculty are committed to the mission and teach with commitment and passion in spite of the miniscule honoraria. There is a sense of purpose prevailing among everyone. They are not lost.

    The City College has a new 4 storey building behind the Heroes Hall Building of the city government in Sto. Niño behind the old Pasudeco site. There are the basic furniture and equipment, all new and probably derived from the funding and efforts of Congressman Rodriguez and his team.

    However, it is quite obvious that there are still many essential amenities that are lacking. The library needs to stack upits resources and equipment, among others. Obviously, it is no Holy Angel University or Angel University much less the Ateneo or AIM.

    The students are diligent and willing to learn in spite of their lack of preparation, exposure and experience. To complement the academic processes inside the classroom, I scheduled a field exposure trip to the Clark Freeport Zone.

    This was intended to enlarge and deepen their understanding of the theoretical concepts of business and management in terms of the actual practice and implementation in the realities of a concrete playing field.

    The City College through president Dr. Javier and the program director, Professor Jonathan Lintag, provided approval and support by facilitating the documentary requirements needed. The city government provided the bus and driver for the trip. Mayor Santiago and Vice Mayor Lazatin committed to support some of the financial incidentals.

    Having been with the Clark Development Corporation and the Clark International Airport Corporation for a total of almost 12 years, I presumed to be able to handle the itinerary and arrangements inside Clark.

    Ms. Noemi Garcia, manager of the CDC Tourism Department, made arrangements for the CDC briefing and the tour to the Clark Museum and the Nayong Pilipino. Ms. Lycia of her department accompanied us. The CDC Marketing Department, through Ms. Tim Ocampo, hosted the briefi ng at the Marketing Briefi ng Room, which was done by Pons (? Sorry).

    For the record, he was very clear and accommodating. He would have been a worthwhile resource even when that department was under me.

    The Clark Museum tour was something enjoyed by the students and from which they learned a lot and with interest. Ms. Cef Yepez remains to be a very competent and devoted museum curator after all these years.

    She is around 74 years old, I am told, but her mind and briefing about the museum and its artifacts are clear, articulate, solid and even quite entertaining. I remember her to have been in Clark when the Americans were there and she also taught sociology at UP Clark.

    However, it saddens me that, after not having gone to the Clark Museum for several years now, I find it to have obviously been neglected. Its artifacts and exhibits are in disarray and appear abandoned to the continuing ravages of time, without upkeep and preservation. The Clark officials should have more respect for their history.

    The Nayong Pilipino Expo, where we ate our packed lunch, was a good respite in terms of atmosphere.

    However much they appreciated the natural environment, the place really looked rundown. It may suffice to be a tourist spot for rural standards but certainly not for national or international tastes. Mimosa and Fontana provided really good environmental settings with the commercial development of their business models.

    It is too bad that we were not allowed to go inside the casinos. They told me that it was because the students, all 19 of them, were in uniform. However, my biggest disappointment happened at the Clark International Airport.

    On the day before, I personally went to the terminal to tell them about intended visit of the students for a quick tour or run-through of the terminal which will take around 20 to 25 minutes. I have trying to contact their president Chichos Luciano and the Terminal Manager Ritche Nakpil on several occasions but to no avail.

    They are probably too busy making their deals or scratching their whatever. It is not certainly in developing their minds. I heard that the Ringling Brothers Circus wants to take over CIAC. They want to get the clowns who are running the place.

    The people who met us at the terminal were hesitant in allowing us to enter the place. We were a party of 21, 19 young students in uniform and IDs and 2 faculty members. One of these personnel, the assistant (?) presumed to lecture me about airport safety and security.

    There was only one flight, an Air Asia plane from Hongkong, and the terminal was deserted. Then, this same moron said that a formal request letter was needed and it had to be approved by the president.

    I never realized that intelligence could deteriorate so low. This was a matter where there were precedents and did not have to be so complicated but could have been actually facilitated with professional courtesy and public relations.

    Finally, however, when I was about to call VP Rey Catacutan, the offi cer in direct charge over the terminal, and Congressman Oca Rodriguez who sponsored these students, they finally decided to allow us in after asking the students to register. It took 20 minutes for Mr. Rico Gopez to guide everybody and brief them on the operations.

    I asked the students to leave immediately before they exacerbate their disability of deafness and dumbness by continued exposure to some of the airport personnel. Then they would be truly lost… lost in humanity… lost in Clark.

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