It’s almost a dream come true for the provincial government especially Gov. Lilia “Nanay” Pineda.
With its construction finished and the fit out now in full swing, the Pampanga Provincial Hospital in Clark may start operating by December this year. What a Christmas gift for everyone.
The hospital is primarily intended for the 140,000 workers inside the Freeport. It is a 3-storey, Level 2 hospital funded by the Capitol, Pagcor and the DOH. Provincial Health Office Head Dr. Dax Tidula, in one video interview, stated that the project was “conceptualized by CDC”.
He could be right. Although it was really Nanay who started this all. I remember when this project was first brought up by Nanay during the presidency of Noel Manankil in CDC as I was in tow in some of the meetings being in charge of PR for Clark.
Still quite vivid to me was how our good friend and namesake Noel, who is now the president of LIPAD, readily committed a land to Nanay and Vice Governor Dennis Pineda for the project.
It wasn’t just any piece of land but something really strategic as it was near CMAR. In our Mancom and Board meetings back then, I also remember him doubling the area of the land so that the hospital would have really enough space for buildings and even parking. Then BCDA president Vince Dizon also supported the move.
Putting up the hospital has a very noble objective — to help Clark employees and their families shore up their medical expenses. It also came at a time when CDC employees were facing the specter of losing medical and hospitalization benefits under a new compensation that was in the offing back then. (They now have to buy their HMO or health coverage/insurance). If our provincial leaders like Nanay and Delta were unmindful of good health for every Cabalen, Pampanga will not have a new hospital like this one.
I recall that in some meetings too (like in Metro Clark Advisory Council), pass-the-hat was discussed to help sustain the facility’s operations. The governor and Metro Clark mayors then like Cris Garbo of Mabalacat City and Pogi Lazatin of Angeles City would share some funds to help in the hospital’s operations. If I remember correctly, I think it was pegged at ₱20 million a year from the city coffers.
The hospital is almost ready to operate. Some support infrastructure are still needed though. It is good that the BCDA president has committed to help fund the access road with provision for lights and canals. It will run in hundreds of million pesos (at ₱300M initially). As good as his looks, President Jake Bingcang is making the government really look good before Clark employees as he volunteered for the agency to shell out the funds. I was told of how he himself dialled up Nanay to offer help not just with the access road but also in getting some medical equipment for the hospital.
This has been making Nanay really proud and happy with another Kapampangan throwing full support to the project. President Jake is from Mexico town and a homegrown boy like President Noel.
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President Jake is on a committing (read: spending) binge, to put it quite bluntly. And why won’t he when the very agency he leads has a mandate to help communities in and around the former military bases.
The BCDA is ensuring connectivity not just in Clark but also in other economic and industrial zones. Recently, BCDA has committed to build SCTEX interchanges in Hermosa, Bataan and in Luisita, Tarlac (northbound). In Bataan, traders, investors and employees in Subic Freeport and Freeport Area of Bataan would surely benefit. The same could be said for those not just in New Clark City but also for locators and employees of Luisita Industrial Park and the Aboitiz InfraCapital Economic Estates.
Again, this is not just for Clark. This is nation building.
