Arroyo to open Nayong Pilipino at Clark

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga – President Arroyo will formally open here next week a portion of the controversial Expo Pilipino now known as Clark Expo, which was closed by former President Joseph Estrada after the unfinished theme park accumulated losses.

A 3.5-hectare section of the original Expo Pilipino will be converted into a historical theme park to be called Nayong Pilipino that will be opened to local and foreign tourists on Nov. 30.

Liberato Laus, president of the state-owned Clark Development Corp. (CDC), and Nayong Pilipino administrator Charito Planas signed a supplemental agreement last Monday for the operation of a new theme park inside the Expo Pilipino that was shut down by Estrada in 1998 due to alleged financial losses.

“The reopening of the Clark Expo is in accordance with the directive of President Arroyo in 2004 to make the theme park a tourist and educational attraction inside the freeport,” said the CDC public relations department.

Laus said Nayong Pilipino promises to boost local tourism as venue for exhibits, liturgical services, live presentations and multi-cultural events and festivities, amid plans to also open several Filipino-style villas in the area.

Planas said Nayong Pilipino covers what used to be known as the Colonial Plaza and Ancient Island, which exhibit the country’s traditions, heritage and lifestyle.

The mothballed Expo Pilipino or National Centennial Expo was a project of former President Fidel Ramos who ordered the release of more than P3 billion for the construction of the historical and cultural theme park in Clark Field, Pampanga.

Allegations of overpricing and anomalies in the construction of the project prompted Estrada, Ramos’ successor, to stop the operations of the Expo Pilipino in 1998, after tourists failed to patronize the still unfinished theme park.

Estrada even established a commission headed by former senator Rene Saguisag to investigate the alleged anomalous contracts covering Expo Pilipino.

The Saguisag commission later recommended the prosecution of several officials involved in the project.

Planas said P40 million was spent to rehabilitate the theme park for the opening of Nayong Pilipino.

Planas told Laus that the new park will feature an outdoor museum of the cultural diversity, history and heritage of the country.

A replica of the historic Barasoain Church, where the Constitution of the first Philippine Republic was unveiled in Malolos, Bulacan, will be ready for liturgical services, while a convent will be used for religious and social gatherings like weddings, retreats and recollections, and concerts, Planas said.

The outdoor amphitheater that can seat 1,000 people can be used for social gatherings and an entertainment venue like theater plays and cultural presentations, she added.

Planas also cited the completion of the so-called Labuad village where ethnic Kapampangan handicraft and artwork will be on sale.

The area also covers a vegetable garden, restaurants and a nipa hut housing the paintings of Kapampangan artists, and a treehouse that can accommodate eight people for family gatherings.

The Nayong Pilipino will showcase the tribal villages of the Ifugao, Kalinga and Muslim communities.

Replicas of the ancestral homes of heroes Jose Rizal, Emilio Aguinaldo and Apolinario Mabini will also be available.