Saturday, September 27, 2008 Arroyo set to sign Bacolor rehab law
BACOLOR -- A birthday gift from a grateful President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to her beloved Kabalen here.
This is exactly how it will look like when the President kick offs Saturday a long-term rehabilitation plan for this lahar-ravaged historic town with her signing of the Bacolor rehabilitation law.
The new law will initially provide P1.5 billion in development funds for this small town which bore the brunt of the lahar devastation triggered by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991.
Fittingly enough, Arroyo will sign the new law, initiated by Pampanga third district Representative Aurelio Gonzales Jr., at the Don Honorio Ventura School of Arts and Trade on the 98th birthday of her father, the late President Diosdado Macapagal, or Apung Dadung as he is fondly called by his Kabalen.
The school was named after a Kapampangan philanthropist and native of this town who gave the President's father, known as the "poor boy from Lubao," financial support so he could finish his studies.
All but two of Bacolor's 21 towns were buried under tons of lahar or volcanic sand at the height of the Pinatubo calamity in the 1990s.
Most of the town residents have since been relocated to the various government-built resettlement sites in Pampanga.
The rehabilitation of this town, renowned as "Athens of Pampanga," once the capital of the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era and also the former capital of the province, has been excruciatingly slow and unsubstantial due to a number of reasons, primarily among these is the lack of funds.
While several infrastructures, such as major roads, government centers and public facilities have been restored or rebuilt, much of the town remains unoccupied by its people for lack of opportunities such as jobs and livelihood and other basic amenities for community living.
Gonzales, a first-term lawmaker, said the new law is the fulfillment of his campaign pledge to his Bacolor constituents in last year's elections and the reconnection of what he described as "the missing link" in the overall development plan and progress in Pampanga and Central Luzon.
"Bacolor was not only a historical and cultural mecca for Kapampangans but a vital cog in the economic and business growth of the province until it was waylaid by lahar devastation and virtually erased from the province's map," said Gonzales, an adopted son of Bacolor prior to his election as member of Congress in 2007.
Gonzales's view is supported by Pampanga businessmen led by Levy Laus, chairman of the Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Pamcham).
Laus even hailed the Senate's unanimous approval of the Bacolor rehabilitation bill.
"It's a very important piece of legislation and potential big boost to the province's business and economic growth once the rehabilitation effort gets underway," Laus said.
He said they were grateful to the President's all-out support to the Bacolor bill.
The Provincial Board has also passed a resolution expressing its "overwhelming and resounding gratitude" to Gonzales for the Bacolor rehabilitation bill.
