Palayan City marks 48th year with austere celebration

PALAYAN CITY, Philippines – All roads lead to this provincial capital today as local officials, led by neophyte Mayor Adrianne Mae Cuevas, mark this city’s 48th anniversary.

Third district Rep. Czarina Umali, wife of Gov. Aurelio Umali, will be the guest of honor and speaker in this year’s anniversary rites, which carry the theme “Kaunlaran at Kasaganaan Tungo sa Bagong Palayan Now Na! (Progress and Bounty toward a New Palayan Right Now!).”

President Aquino, through Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., issued Presidential Proclamation 687 declaring Dec. 5 a special non-working day throughout the city to enable residents to join the celebration.

The executive committee for this year’s anniversary rites, led by its overall chairman, Kapisanan ng mga Magsisibuyas sa Nueva Ecija general manager Rolando Manangan, kicked off the celebration yesterday with an ecumenical service at the Palayan City Conference Center (PCCC), followed by the launch of a medical and dental caravan, birth registration and other social services, the coronation of Mr. and Ms. Day Care 2013, and the barangay and awards night at the Nueva Ecija Convention Center.

Today, a get-together for the city’s elderly will be held at the PCCC, followed by a parade of the Mr. and Ms. Day Care 2013 in the afternoon. 

Cuevas said the city was one of those hardest hit by Typhoon Santi last October and there were calls for an austere celebration after the howler destroyed some P300 million worth of local crops.

“In the aftermath of Santi, it was demanded that there should be austerity but since this is just a once-a-year activity, we decided to celebrate it. And we did pursue austerity by not inviting showbiz celebrities,” she told journalists.  

This year’s anniversary rites come on the heels of a major facelift undertaken by the Cuevas administration, including political and administrative reforms and the renovation of the city hall.

Cuevas said the city, apart from being the seat of the provincial government, would also like to claim its rightful place as an agro-industrial center in the province.

Cuevas has been inviting investors to set up businesses in Palayan in line with her administration’s vision to turn the city into an investors’ haven.

The city was created as the new capital of Nueva Ecija on June 19,1965 by virtue of Republic Act 4475 signed by then President Diosdado Macapagal.

It first rose to prominence when it hosted the National Jamboree of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) in 1969, attended by thousands of scouts from across the Asia-Pacific. 

The campsite is considered the BSP’s largest regional campsite where the Josefa Llanes Escoda national training center is also housed.

The city also hosts the headquarters of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division at the Fort Magsaysay military reservation, considered one of the largest military training camps not only in the country but also in Southeast Asia.