Statues of archangels proposed to rid Angeles of 'sin city' tag

ANGELES CITY, Philippines – Browse the Internet for images of Manila and London, and natural and man-made landmarks surface. But looking up this city online inevitably yields photos of bar girls in skimpy clothing, dancing in bars.

Now a move for more appropriate landmarks for this city has been initiated by former Commission on Higher Education chairman Emmanuel Angeles whose family founded the Angeles University Foundation (AUF) here.

Angeles has prepared at least three woodcarved models of monuments of at least three archangels, which he wants to rise at three major intersections in this city.

Building monuments honoring angels, according to Angeles, would be most appropriate for a city named after angels, naming at least seven archangels who could be honored, namely Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Simiel, Oriphiel and Zachariel.

The move, Angeles said, would not only provide this city with impressive landmarks, but also a way of invoking the protection of angels.

Three miniature replicas of the monuments, done in wood, have been sculpted by Imao de Leon, a recipient of the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) award. They were turned over to Angeles who wanted the actual monuments to be made of bronze.

Among the proposed sites for the monuments are the rotundas at the Angeles-San Fernando boundary and the Clark Freeport.

Angeles said details on how to go about the project are still being ironed out.

Meanwhile, Angeles bared plans to expand the old MacArthur Highway in this city into four lanes, with no trees to be cut.

“Instead, the acacia trees will be balled and replanted at Lakeshore,” he said in a press briefing.

Lakeshore is an upscale housing project in Mexico, Pampanga, built by renowned architect Nestor Mangio.

The widening of the highway in other parts of Pampanga has been controversial, as the cutting of acacia trees bordering the old, two-lane highway triggered protests from environmentalists.