SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—A P1.6-billion multipurpose center will rise in Barangay Del Rosario as part of the New City of San Fernando five-year sustainable urban renewal program.
Mayor Edwin D. Santiago said construction on the center will start this year with the purchase of nine hectares of land in the barangay, and will be built phase by phase owing to limited funds of the city government.
The construction of the center is in line with the regional plan of the National Economic and Development Authority, Regional Development Council, and the Megalopolis project of second district Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the former President, and Gov. Lilia Pineda.
Santiago said the center has multiple uses—for sport and social events and for disasters and other emergencies. It will have a track oval, biking lanes, gym and sport facilities, green space for nature like picnic and playgrounds, gardens, a park and a convention center.
The center is convertible into an evacuation site during emergencies like flooding and earthquakes, the mayor added.
The other components of the five-year development program—a community-based program with participatory governance of a robust Citizen Consultative Committee and other non-government organizations—are a good public transport system with rapid bus transits with street connectivity, sustainable and well-maintained drainage system, sanitation and cleanliness, and organic farming.
The renewal program also adheres to the Paris Agreement of 2015 signed by 160 countries, including the Philippines, that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and world temperatures below 2 degree Celsius. It also meets the 17 goals of the Millennium Sustainable Development Goals, “which assure the prosperity of all while protecting the planet from September 20, 2015 up to 2030,” the mayor said.
“These are the requirements of a resilient and sustainable city, which we are trying to accomplish within the remaining five years of my administration,” said Santiago, who can run for another term in the next local elections.
Santiago is optimistic that even if he loses the polls in 2019, the foundation has been set up and is already in track.
The mayor says the center would give city residents chances for more recreational activities to improve their health and give them more places to visit for their leisure, specially the senior citizens.
“I also instructed the new shopping centers in the city to consider or include outdoor public parks in their overall construction plan, so people have more places to spend during their leisure time,” Santiago said.