Mayor Yolly Pineda is enthusiastic about the potential of the area in tourism. Photos by Ric Gonzales
STA. RITA, Pampanga –”It’s not expensive to have peace of mind and happiness.”
Said Mayor Yolanda “Yolly” Pineda as she toured Punto Central Luzon in a potential tourism destination just around the megadike that saved Pampanga from lahar flows out of Mt. Pinatubo several years ago.
”This is a place for the whole family. Our employees at the town hall rest and recharge here after working.
I join them because I feel great and forget my problems, especially related to work,” said Pineda. She as she pointed to red, yellow, orange and blue rays coming from the sun as it was about to set.
“Where on earth can you find this very beautiful sunset, combining with the rustic ambience of Sta. Rita?” rhapsodized the two-term mayor in the dialect.
Despite working on a limited budget, Pineda accomplished much in preparation for the Holy Mass at the dike portion’s in Sta. Rita set on October 13. This is a yearly eucharistic thanksgiving celebration for the salvation of the town from devastations wrought by the volcano’s eruption beginning in 1991.
Gov. Lilia Pineda will be invited to the Mass. The mayor is the wife of former Lubao Mayor and vice gubernatorial candidate Dennis Pineda, son of the governor.
“We have to work first before we ask for help, especially from the governor. While we have done a good deal for our residents, barangay officials and municipal employees, there is still much to be done,” said Pineda.
The 41-year-old mayor said they had initially cleaned at least two kilometers of the total six kilometers of the planned tourism area which is about 20 feet up from the fishponds and rice fields of Barangay San Isidro.
She added that volunteer policemen will hold massive cleaning activities early October.
Last year, Pineda and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to plant at least 6,000 trees in the area. But several factors contributed to the delay of the project, one of which is that cows and other animals fed on the hundreds of small trees earlier planted.
”Only a few were left. But we did not surrender and we put up protection for the trees when we planted again,” said Pineda, who placed tree guards made of bamboo. It proved successful as some 600 trees are now almost full grown.
Bikes are now available for rent so that parents and children play, bond and enjoy.
Pineda is hitting two birds with one stone with the tourism and recreational project. The portion of the dike in Sta. Rita is accessible via Porac and Bacolor towns, onto the Olongapo-Gapan Road.
Pineda said she wanted the place to be promoted, especially through media, so that private firms will be interested in investing solar panels and solar energy to lighten up the area.
Rolly Miranda, brother of the mayor, said it was the Sta. Rita residents that “discovered and gave importance” to that place yet to be given a name.
He said the mayor envisioned the area to be filled with restaurants and other establishments. Miranda said local joggers flock to the area early morning and just before sunset. Mountain bikers begin to pass by the area and even stay around to marvel at only-God-can-make natural wonders.
First-time visitors stressed the area is clean, the smell is nice, the air fresh.
Pineda said the development of the place will allow more people, especially outsiders, to visit Sta. Rita and the rest of Pampanga.
Sta. Rita is known for its church built in the late 1800’s. A few of the town’s Spanish-inspired old houses had been used in well-known Filipino movies starring Aga Mulach, Claudine Baretto and other prominent local stars.
Sta. Rita, which has 10 villages and about 38,000 residents, is considered one of the smallest towns in Pampanga.
Small, however, is not boring when you are talking a town filled with interesting culture, history and natural beauty. It deserves another story in days to come.
