A$6-million vocational school to rise at Expo Pilipino park

CLARK FREEPORT , Philippines  – The Clark Development Corp. and an Australian firm have signed a lease agreement for the establishment of a A$6-million educational facility to be called Clark Education City at the mothballed Expo Pilipino theme park here.

CDC president Benigno Ricafort identified the investor as Australian International Training and Management Group Pty. Ltd. which will offer vocational courses with Australian certification in the fields of hotel and restaurant management, plumbing, refrigeration and air-conditioning, electrical, auto-mechanical and construction. 

Ricafort also said that the courses will be specially designed for foreign students from Korea, India, Nepal, China, Taiwan and other countries.

Ricafort said the construction work for the project is expected to be completed by next year.

The controversial Expo Pilipino theme park was built during the Ramos administration, but was not totally finished in time for plans to make it the centerpiece for the centennial commemoration of Philippine independence. Amid allegations of anomalies in its construction and its failure to generate income as a tourist facility later, former President Joseph Estrada shut it down.

The theme park features a tent-roofed amphitheater that can seat 35,000 people.

The Nayong Pilipino Foundation, however, was able to rehabilitate a three-hectare section of the theme park, patterned after the Nayong Pilipino in Manila. – Ding Cervantes