Mayor Oscar Malapitan has headed a march of Caloocan City employees—not to protest or rebel, but to proceed to their newly built city hall.
The city’s old building on the corner of A. Mabini and 10th Avenue has stood for more than six decades.
The new edifice is now located on the corner of 8th Street and 8th Avenue. It has eight floors, including the parking basement, and has a total floor area of 3,000 square meters.
On Tuesday at 6:30 a.m., Malapitan led the walk from 10th Avenue to 8th Avenue with the city’s elective officials, department heads, city employees, students who played the drum and lyre, and local college students waving their flaglettes along the road.
The simple ceremony began with a blessing and ribbon cutting in front of the city hall and opening of its marker with Malapitan, Caloocan 1st District Rep. Along Malapitan, and Vice Mayor Maca Asistio leading.
An inaugural Mass followed, presided over by Most Rev. Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, who cited that “Caloocan is a very old city, but it goes toward the atmosphere of improvement.”
According to Malapitan, the old city hall was built in 1952, and hosted 11 of Caloocan’s 16 mayors, including officers in charge. The edifice on A. Mabini has seen many renovations, but the current administration felt it was time to move on.
“The old city hall on 10th Avenue gave me a strong desire to build a new building. A safe, presentable, and spacious building. I do not want that one day danger will befall residents who come to the city hall or employees, due to the number of cracks in the old city hall,” he said.