Angeles City mayor wants APEC projects finished by June 5

ANGELES CITY, Philippines – With prospects of hosting some 3,000 senior ministers and other delegates to a conference of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in January next year, Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan wants all infrastructure, tourism and other projects in this city to be finished by June 5.

The projects, costing P326.1 million, are part of efforts to beautify this city and ensure smoother traffic in time for the APEC conference, Pamintuan said.

He said he was initially disappointed with the pace by which contractors of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the state-owned Clark Development Corp. (CDC) were carrying out some of the projects, prompting him to impose the June 5 deadline.

Pamintuan said the projects under the DPWH include the upgrading of the Pandan-Magalang Road costing P60 million, the Mac-Arthur Highway in the Balibago commercial district costing P41.5 million, and the Friendship Road costing P60 million; and the widening and upgrade of the drainage system along Don Bonifacio Road costing P19 million.

Footbridges across busy roads are also underway, including one costing P22 million in front of the Chevalier School near the boundary of Angeles and the capital city of San Fernando. Another footbridge is being eyed across the highway in Balibago district in front of Systems Plus School.

Pamintuan said the APEC conference will be held at the Clark Freeport in January 2015, with most of the delegates expected to be billeted in hotels in the city.

On top of the DPWH projects, Joy Cruz, administrator of the Angeles Heritage District Committee, said the city government has allocated P18.6 million for a park to be called Plaza Angel in the vicinity of the Sto. Rosario Parish Church where the historic Pamintuan Mansion is located. It was in the mansion where Emilio Aguinaldo marked the second anniversary of Philippine Independence in 1899.

A creek in the area will be covered with concrete slabs to allow for a bigger grass-covered promenading area adorned with trellises of the “culiat” plant, which this city was originally named after.

Telecommunication firms have complied with Pamintuan’s request to remove unsightly “spaghetti cables” hanging from posts in the heritage district. “We will go underground, just like in Europe,” said Pamintuan who recently arrived from a trip to Barcelona, Spain.

Pamintuan also said the CDC has belatedly promised to finally work on a new P15-million rotunda at the Bayanihan Park at the Clark Freeport’s main gate.

Pamintuan also noted that the projects timed for the APEC conference also included the P90-million street lighting, stretching several kilometers from Friendship Road along the perimeter fence of Clark up to MacArthur Highway through San Fernando; and the reactivation of at least three traffic lights in various parts of the city.