Officials of Clark Development Corp. (CDC), Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) and the University of the Philippines lower the time capsule at the three-hectare future permanent site of the UP Extension Program for Pampanga (UP-Pampanga) in the Clark Freeport Zone. Leading the time capsule-laying are UP president Emerlinda Roman (4th from left) and UP Chancellor Dr. Sergio Cao (3rd from left). Looking on are (from left) UP-Pampanga director Juliet Mallari, UP Alumni Association Pampanga founding president, former Pampanga governor and solicitor general Estelito Mendoza, CIAC chairman Nestor Mangio, CDC president and CEO Levy P. Laus, Pampanga Vice Governor Joseller “Yeng” Guiao, and CDC executive vice president Philip Panlilio. --JACOB CUNANAN

CLARK FREEPORT—Officials of the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) and the University of the Philippines led the groundbreaking ceremonies for the soon to be established permanent site of the UP Extension Program in Pampanga (UP-Pampanga) campus at a 3.28-hectares site here.

UP president Emerlinda Roman and CDC president Levy Laus led the groundbreaking ceremonies.

They were joined by Clark International Airport Corp. chairman Nestor Mangio, former Pampanga governor and solicitor general Estelito Mendoza and Pampanga Vice Gov. Joseller “Yeng” Guiao. Both Mendoza and Guiao are UP alumni.

The site is behind the Puregold Duty Free Store on C.M. Recto Avenue.

Roman said Congress has appropriated P50 million for the establishment of a “university town” as UP’s global window for a better education.

Roman said it took them 12 years before they were able to get a permanent site for the UP-Pampanga extension program in Clark.

She said the land granted by the CDC ended their long search for a new and permanent site since the UP Extension Program in the City of San Fernando (UPSF) lost its campus to Mt. Pinatubo’s lahar in October 1995.

Since then, UPSF moved to various locations at least three times since it was established in 1979.  “The three hectares of prime property for UP here has narrowed the gap between our dream and its realization. This will be a permanent site this time,” Roman said in her speech during the UP Alumni Association Pampanga Inc. Annual Meeting and Homecoming at the Clark Museum here that followed the groundbreaking ceremonies.

UP Chancellor Dr. Sergio Cao has sought the assistance of the alumni for the UP extension program.

“We hope the alumni can assist in the development of the extension program in Pampanga. We hope to see modern buildings in the future.

We have gone over labor pains and we look forward to better and happier days for UP-Pampanga. We hope it stays here for a long time,” Cao said.  

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FILIPINO-owned MG Mining and Energy Corp. (MGMEC) has allocated P307.21 million for its coal mining project in Bislig, Surigao del Sur.

A GROUP of developing member-countries of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) faces difficulty when big economies like the US and the European Union (EU) push for a free- trade deal within the bloc, said an official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

LOOKING at the possible influx of investments in the renewable energy sources in the country, the government asked Tuesday its multilateral lenders to rechannel the repayment of Philippine debts into renewable energy projects.

CLARK FREEPORT—Officials of the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) and the University of the Philippines led the groundbreaking ceremonies for the soon to be established permanent site of the UP Extension Program in Pampanga (UP-Pampanga) campus at a 3.28-hectares site here.