BCDA offers Clark Green City as alternate gov’t center

MANILA, Philippines - The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) is offering Clark Green City as a backup government center should a major calamity hit Metro Manila.

The BCDA said there are available lots in Clark Green City at the Clark Special Economic Zone, where government offices could be housed to ensure the uninterrupted delivery of services in the event of a major calamity.

“Earthquakes are impossible to predict but this proactive approach to have a back-up government center will ensure continued operations and delivery of vital services following the Big One,” BCDA president and chief executive officer Arnel Paciano Casanova said, referring to a magnitude 7 earthquake.

Casanova said the 9,450-hectare Clark Green City is disaster-resilient.The area is about a hundred kilometers away from the West Valley Fault Line and is surrounded by the Zambales and Sierra Madre mountain ranges.

During the planning stage of Clark Green City, Casanova said geo-hazard maps were used to ensure that buildings and other infrastructure would be built in the least vulnerable areas.

The BCDA chief said they are also eyeing a flood-free Clark Green City.

“The Green City will be a showcase to the world... a model for uninterrupted commerce, trade and services in spite of our country being a calamity-prone area,” Casanova said.

Clark Green City can accomodate  around 1.1 million residents and some 800,000 workers.

Casanova said Clark Green City would also have institutional and industrial areas and a central business district.