Fire nearly guts Expo Pilipino

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga — The mothballed Expo Pilipino theme park, built at a cost of some P3.2 billion here, was nearly gutted by a two-hour fire that erupted at an open storage area, just a few meters from the 35,000-seater, teflon-roofed amphitheater.

Firefighters found it difficult to contain the blaze because it struck 30-foot long iron roofing sheets with styrofore linings and cans of asphalt which is highly combustible, according to Alejandro Natividad, fire chief of the Clark Development Corp.

Natividad placed the fire damage at P1 million.

President Arroyo said during her visit here to mark her birthday last April 5, that the Expo Pilipino will soon reopen. She bared plans to transform it into a Disneyland-like theme park.

Former President Joseph Estrada ordered the Expo shut down in 1998 due to mounting losses.

Former President Fidel Ramos approved the construction of the 60-hectare Expo as centerpiece of the celebration of the Philippine Independence centennial in 1998. — Ding Cervantes