EVACUATION CENTER. Andrea Domingo (fourth from left), chair and chief executive officer of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), leads the groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday (Feb. 3, 2022) for the construction of a P50-million multi-purpose evacuation center in Lubao, Pampanga. Also in the photo are former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (fourth from right) and some provincial officials. (Contributed photo)
LUBAO, Pampanga – A PHP50-million multi-purpose evacuation center will soon rise in Barangay Sta. Catalina here as part of the government’s long-term solution to climate change.
Andrea Domingo, chair and chief executive officer of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), together with the province’s 2nd district Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo, former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Governor Dennis Pineda, Vice Governor Lilia Pineda, and Lubao Mayor Esmeralda Pineda, on Thursday led the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the facility that will benefit residents of coastal villages.
During the event, Domingo personally turned over a PHP50-million cheque to the local government unit of Lubao to fund the construction of the two-story building, the sixth of its kind to be erected in this province.
The building will complement the 24-hectare government property that currently houses regional and provincial evacuation sites, a coronavirus disease (Covid-19) isolation facility, municipal material recovery facility, and the nearby Lubao Bamboo Hub and Ecopark.
Mayor Pineda said the building will serve well residents of the coastal barangays of Sta. Tereza II (Lambiki), Bancal Pugad, and Bancal Sinubli, whose quickest access to the town proper is via the Porac-Gumain River that runs beside the Lubao Bamboo Hub.
“Even other barangays of the Second District [of Pampanga] will benefit from this project,” the mayor said during the event.
Governor Pineda, who initiated the bamboo hub complex project when he was the mayor of Lubao, has tasked the municipal government to conduct a study of lined-canal in the area as preparation for future developments.
The Arroyo mother and son tandem, on the other hand, appealed for more budget from Pagcor for projects that could support the initial PHP50-million building.
Domingo, in her speech, bared that Pampanga has always been among her priorities in the Pagcor’s thrust under the Duterte administration’s “Build. Build. Build” program.
Pagcor is currently funding the construction of the PHP500-million OFW Hospital in Pampanga, which the gaming firm will also furnish with PHP200 million worth of equipment.
Domingo, who has also served as commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration under the Arroyo presidency, is a native of Pampanga. (PNA)
