In this photo taken in 2013, hikers set up camp on the shore of the scenic crater lake of Mt. Pinatubo in Central Luzon. FILE PHOTO
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has declared June 15 a special non-working day in this province “in commemoration of the 32nd anniversary of Mt. Pinatubo’s 1991 eruption and the resilience of the people.”
The special day, a Thursday, was requested by Pampanga Gov. Dennis Pineda, according to a copy of Proclamation No. 234, which was signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and received on Monday, May 29, by Pineda’s office.
“It is but fitting and proper that the people of the Province of Pampanga be given full opportunity to participate in the occasion,” a part of the proclamation read.
Past presidents also declared June 15 in Pampanga a special non-working day, and local governments held tributes, gathered for thanksgiving, organized treks or rides on Mt. Pinatubo, or launched books or photo exhibits.
The Center for Kapampangan Studies of the Holy Angel University in Angeles City, north of this capital, operates the most comprehensive and interactive museum of Mt. Pinatubo and the disaster it wrought on Pampanga and the Central Luzon region.
Considered the second largest eruption in the 20th century after Mt. Novarupta in Alaska, Mt. Pinatubo’s blast damaged P10.1 billion worth of crops, infrastructure, and personal property in the region in 1991 and P1.9 billion in 1992, according to regional economists led by Remigio Mercado.
How many actually died during the catastrophic blast and lahar rampages was not known in the absence of an official list of fatalities, but estimates ranged from 500 to 1,500, as monitoring by INQUIRER showed. INQ
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