This Week’s Milestones: July 21-27, 2019
July 21, 2012
The town of Mabalacat officially became a city of Pampanga province after a majority of its residents voted for its conversion in a plebiscite.
Based on Commission on Elections records, 14,058 (72 percent) voters favored cityhood, while 5,366 (28 percent) were against it.
Only 23 percent participated in the electoral exercise, or 19,447 voters of 83,564 registered voters in Mabalacat.
In May 2012, President Benigno Aquino III signed Republic Act No. 10164, or the Charter of Mabalacat City.
It is the third town in Pampanga to become a city after Angeles in 1964 and San Fernando in 2001.
Article continues after this advertisementMabalacat City has 27 barangays and its population in 2015 was 250,799.
Article continues after this advertisementJuly 27, 2015
A memorandum of understanding was signed by officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Social Welfare and Development and the US Agency for International Development to enhance the National Greening Program (NGP) in portions of the Sierra Madre forests in Rizal and Quezon provinces.
Some P9.2 million in funds from the government’s conditional cash transfer program was tapped for the project.
Reforestation efforts covered 2,000 hectares in the Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape (total area: 26,125 ha) in Rizal and in the Kaliwa Watershed Forest Reserve (total area: 27,613 ha) in Quezon.
In 2011, then President Benigno Aquino III issued Executive Order No. 26 creating NGP to start a massive tree replanting program.
Compiled by Kathleen de Villa, Inquirer
Research: Zathea dela Peña and Andrea Gregorio, Inquirer Interns
