BACOLOR, Pampanga—Gov. Lilia Pineda joined her constituents in observing the 24th anniversary of the eruption of Mount Pinatubo on June 15, 1991.
Pineda declared last Monday a holiday, allowing people from the province to commemorate one of the worst tragedies that ever hit Pampanga and nearby provinces in Central Luzon.
Among the towns that suffered most was Bacolor, the country’s capital during the Spanish era, 400 years ago.
The series of volcanic eruptions and the lahar flows that followed the eruptions wiped out not just billions of pesos in investments but a huge portion of the spirit, energy and self-confidence of the local residents and their leaders.
But the Capampangan’s ability to rise from the ashes of destruction was most evident at the worst instances, Third District Board Member Rosve Henson said.
“The Bacolor people and the rest in Pampanga are not just resilient, but have the ability to rise from a very difficult challenge. Look at Pampanga 24 years after the terrible eruption. It’s the center of economic activities in Central Luzon,” Henson said.
The then relentless destruction of lahar —a Javanese word for mudflow— forced thousands of Bacolor natives to relocate to safer areas in Pampanga, and many of them several years later refused to return to their homes due to several reasons, including the lack of jobs and livelihood opportunities
In October 1995 fierce rains aided the monstrous attack of lahar, burying more than 2,000 houses, some 500 vehicles and hundreds of people in Cabalantian, a village here some 40 kilometers southeast of the volcano summit.
Barely a year after the so-called Cabalantian tragedy, then-Bacolor Mayor and now Vice Mayor Ananias “Jun” Canlas worked for the establishment of the Angeles Industrial Park Inc. (Aipi). Aipi is not located at Pampanga’s highly urbanized city, but in Barangay Calibutbut here. It is adjacent to the southern portion of Angeles City.
“It was then-President Fidel Ramos who was chiefly responsible for the creation of the industrial park beginning 1996. I was just one of the instruments as mayor of the very resilient Bacolor people,” Canlas said
The lawyer-vice mayor accompanied Henson, Pineda and her Chief of Staff Olga Frances “Fritzie” David-Dizon, Third District Board Member Ferdinand Labung and his wife Calibutbut Barangay Captain Anna Marie Labung, Second District Board Member Anthony Joseph Torres, Luningning Vergara of the Pampanga-Public Employment Service Office and Maria Eliza Rey Muñoz of the Pampanga Action Center for OFW Concerns (Pacoc) during their visit-tour at the Aipo on Wednesday.
“Governor Pineda is visiting the industrial park for several reasons but one of her main purposes is to make sure the workers are not just properly compensated but are treated well,” said Henson, who, along with other members of the provincial board, will work for the renaming of Aipi. They want it renamed after its host town Bacolor—or Bacolor Industrial Park Inc.
“Providing jobs and livelihoods is on the menus of the governor and Vice Gov. Dennis “Delta” Pineda. But the main course should be quality jobs,” he added.
As of June 17 this year, there are 11, 972 jobs at Aipi, said Mary Anne Castro, Aipi administrator.
“We are expected to grow in terms of employment and production. We strictly follow the rules set by the Department of Labor and Employment [DOLE]. We have no contractual jobs but only permanent status at the industrial park,” said Castro, who welcomed Pineda’s delegation, along with Aipi Zone Manager Mario Alberto.
Pineda was ecstatic when she learned that some 80 percent of the total workers at Aipi are from Pampanga. The two-term governor said she would also take advantage of the “rule “of Aipi that “even high-school graduates” are allowed to work at the industrial park.
“I have many in my care who are only high- school graduates, and now I can help them get good jobs at Aipi,” Pineda said.
Less than a month ago, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz visited Aipi to meet with its management, locators and subcontractors. She thanked them for providing jobs to close to 12,000 people, most of whom are from Pampanga.
Image credits: Leo Villacarlos