Official supports call for return of consular office
Sunday, January 31, 2010
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MABALACAT -- First district Board Member Tarcicio "Tars" DC Halili expressed support to the local executives' clamor for the Foreign Affiars department to restore its satellite office inside Clark Freeport.
Halili said Clark is strategically located for a Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) consular office because of the development in and around the Freeport.
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"People from Pangasinan, Tarlac, Zambales, Nueva Ecija, and other parts of Luzon can get in Clark within few hours because of the Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway," he said.
The DFA, he said, should maintain an office in Clark because of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport.
"We have an international airport here, so the DFA should have a satellite office here," he said.
Mayor Marino "Boking" Morales earlier appealed to the DFA to re-establish its consular office in Clark Freeport.
Morales made the appeal following the transfer of the DFA consular office from Clark to the transport terminal in the City of San Fernando early in January.
The DFA Pampanga Consular Office started holding office in the City of San Fernando last January 4.
Morales said the move will greatly affect investors inside the Freeport and the local traders around Clark.
He said the DFA transferred without consulting the local government units in the Metro Clark area, particularly Mabalacat town that hosts several businesses inside the Freeport.
The DFA, he said, should have at least informed the Metro Clark Advisory Council and the Clark Investors and Locators Association regarding its transfer to the capital city.
