Olongapo residents hit SBMA for turning historical site into ‘funeral parlor’

A group of Olongapo City residents expressed outrage yesterday when officials of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) allowed the remains of two murder victims to lie in one of the city’s historical landmarks.

Businessman Uldarico Tubig and his security aide Rommel Pineda were shot dead Friday by five gunmen inside Tubig’s office at the Subic Freeport. Police investigators believe it was motivated by business rivalry. Both victims are from Pampanga.

Residents said the SBMA showed no respect for the historical value and prestige of the Admiral’s Guest House in Subic.

The Admiral’s Guest House, the oldest standing structure inside the former United States naval base, was used by American base commanders to entertain guests and dignitaries who visited Subic. Since 1992, when the Philippine government took over the bases, then Presidents Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada hosted parties in the guest house, which was also used by SBMA chairmen and other ranking Subic officials for special occasions.

"Joyous occasions are celebrated at the Guest House. It is a special place especially for sentimental and historical reasons. As of now, there are but few remaining (pieces) of Olongapo’s rich, colorful past and the Guest House is one of them," said Mike Pusing, chairman of Sigaw ng Lumalabang Olongapeño (Siglo).

He said "it pains us to see that such an important site has been relegated to serve as a funeral parlor. We have nothing against the victims whose remains were temporarily placed there. We sympathize with their families and we respect their dead. But the thing is, there are numerous funeral parlors in Olongapo and there’s one right inside the Freeport. Why the Guest House, of all places?"

Pusing said the SBMA’s indiscretion would create a bad precedent that could diminish the historical value of the Guest House.

The incident also opened old wounds, according to Pusing, who said residents compared the case of Tubig and Pineda — who were not residents of Olongapo but were given the privilege of using the Guest House — to that of former SBMA chief operating officer and later Olongapo administrator Ferdinand Aristorenas, who died of a stroke in 2002.

Pusing said the city government sought the SBMA’s permission to hold necrological rites for Aristorenas on Tappan Park just across the Guest House, but the SBMA management turned down the request.

"SBMA refused to give due respect to Aristorenas, one of its former officials and a pioneering volunteer, yet it granted the holding of memorial services to two plain civilians who are not even from Olongapo right within the auspices of the Guest House," he said.

Pusing reminded SBMA officials that it was the people of Olongapo who made sacrifices to make Subic what it is today.

"It is bad enough that Freeport authorities are now basking in glory out of the blood, sweat and tears of Olongapo volunteers. What’s worse is they are treating those behind the miracle of Subic as short of dirt," he said.