CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—City residents here can now heave a sigh of relief after a portion of the Paskuhan Village was donated to the city by the buyer of the property.
Singing the classical Capampangan folk song “Atin ku pung singsing, Mewala ya iti [I once had a ring but I lost it],” Mayor Edwin “Edsa” D. Santiago said, “Abalik taya ing Singsing [We got the ring back]” in describing the donation.
The central building in the sprawling Paskuhan Village here, which was patterned after the Christmas lantern, as well as its surrounding area covering 5,000 square meters, was donated back to the city including a 500 sq-m two-story building, and an amphitheater by SM Development Corp. (SMDC) which bought the Paskuhan Village property from the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (Tieza) for P939 million.
“Masanting ne ing tuyu, kesa sula-sulapo pugu, pota malakwan tamu keng negosasyun alang malyari [Dried fish is much better than a flying quail for we might be left behind in the negotiations, and nothing wil happen],” said Santiago in accepting the half hectare land donation.
“As it turned out, the deal was final and executory last Monday [January 20, 2020],” according to City Administrator Atty. Atlee Viray.
“It is important to preserve our heritage. From zero to something, this is a momentous singular achievement of the Santiago administration,” Viray said.
“It happened that the first offer was only 200 sq m. But the mayor said that’s only good for a toilet. Dagdagan ye, mapalyaring misabi tamu [Increase it and we might talk] until it reached 5,000 sq m,” narrated Viray on how the negotiations went.
Viray said the Paskuhan Village was sold by Tieza in favor of SM, and the only thing that the city government was holding was “the right of first refusal.”
And that was only basis of the mayor to call on Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales [Third District, Pampanga] and the solicitor general in order to file an annulment and reconveyance of sale,” he said.
“Because we foresee that if we wait for the case to reach up to the Supreme Court, that would be difficult. We might as well be dead before we see its conclusion,” Viray explained.
Santiago said, for his part, said “next to God is culture.”
“We proudly described San Fernando as the home of the giant lantern but then we don’t even have a place for it here,” he lamented.
“So, this [Paskuhan] will be a year-round lantern village to showcase, not only San Fernando, but the famous Capampangan culinary dishes,” the mayor said.
“It is impotant pag malasakitan me ing kultura mu uling karin ta ngan mi abe-abe, itang kulturang Pilipino, kulturang Kapampangan karin meg umpisa ngan, ken penibatan de kulturang Fernandino (…that we show concern for our culture because that is where we are together, the Filipino culture, Kapampangan culture that is where it all began where the Fernandino culture sprang),” Santiago said.