Mayor Cris Garbo turns over ambulance to Lubao Mayor Esmie Pineda. Photo courtesy of Bayan ng Lubao
MABALACAT CITY — The city government has made good its promise of sharing its blessings from the Clark Freeport with its delivery of ambulances to other local government units.
Last January, Mayor Crisostomo Garbo announced how he was pleasantly surprised with his city’s share of the gross income earned by the Clark Freeport from its locators.
“We were expecting P600 million, but we got P750 million in 2019,” said Garbo then. “As part of my blessings na pinagkakaloob po ng ating Panginoon, we have scheduled on Feb. 15 the distribution of 16 ambulances to different LGUs.”
He cited the “guidance” of Vice Gov. Lilia G. Pineda in these efforts to help income-challenged Pampanga LGUs.
While the Feb. 15 scheduled distribution may have been overtaken by the Covid-19 pandemic and the enhanced community quarantine, Garbo has nonetheless pushed for the distribution of the ambulances.
“Initially, it was Gov. Dennis “Delta” Pineda who approved of the municipalities as beneficiaries and this was also approved by the city government. So far, the municipalities who received the ambulances were Lubao, Porac, Magalang, and Sta. Rita. There will be more municipalities who will receive the ambulance but that will depend on the arrival of these units.” said Garbo.
Aside from the Pampanga LGUs, Mabalacat also donated ambulances to the adjacent Tarlac municipalities of Bamban and Capas.
Garbo allocated portions of the money to procure ambulances to be given to various local government units including selected towns adjacent to this city such as Bamban and Capas.
As Garbo calls for solidarity in this time of pandemic, he thanks God for the arrival of the ambulance units “at the most appropriate time” given their pivotal role in health emergencies and rescue situations.
Garbo expressed hope that the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on business in the Clark Freeport would not be so adverse that the city could continue donating ambulances to more LGUs from its GIE share.
