QC polishing diamond year with major projects

QUEZON CITY, Philippines – Major projects, including academic conferences, public health clinics, medical missions and food and cultural events, are being planned by the Quezon City government to mark its 75th Diamond Jubilee celebration starting in October.

This was announced by Mayor Herbert Bautista in a keynote address during the recent stakeholders’ meeting held at the UP Technohub in Quezon City, where he called on the business and academic communities, representatives of various sectors and barangays and the media to support the city government’s yearlong celebration.

‘Bastion of innovation’

“As the birthplace of many important events, endeavors and revolutions that shaped the nation’s historical and economic history, Quezon City is indeed a bastion of continued innovation. The 75th year celebration of cityhood gives us the perfect opportunity to show off what Quezon City has to offer. Thus, we came up with a master plan that commemorates its rich past, as well as welcomes its progressive future which we all excitedly look forward to,” Bautista said.

He added: “To make this happen, the city needs the support and pioneering efforts of volunteers, community partners, the private sector and citizens to work together with the city government to be able to [make] this vision a reality for all.”

Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte, who heads the city government’s tourism department, said community events had initially been planned for the city’s 70th anniversary but these were shelved after Tropical Storm “Ondoy” in 2009. “Hopefully this year, we can see the fruition of all these efforts,” she said.

According to Tadeo Palma, the mayor’s secretary and overall chair of the Diamond Jubilee Commission, the planned celebration will include monthly and simultaneous events that will culminate in October 2015. One of the first events is the search for Miss Quezon City which will begin next month, he said.

“Our general theme is summed up perfectly in two words: ‘Participatory’ and ‘partnership.’ We are inspired by one common goal and we need all the support that we can get from everyone to make this happen. It’s not all revelry, but a grand coalition of minds and hearts,” Palma added.

QC Museum, tourism app

Among the highlights of the celebration are the formal opening of the state-of-the-art Quezon City Museum in October, inauguration of public office and school buildings and pocket cultural exhibits.

“We are so excited to commemorate the future now, by preserving the past.” She listed permanent legacy markers such as the reconstruction of the late President Manuel L. Quezon’s heritage house in the Quezon Memorial Circle, the launch of the history book “City with a Soul” in June and the release of a nondenominational commemorative coin by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Other events lined up in October are a Diamond Jubilee photo exhibit, the launch of a QC tourism app, as well as the QC Business Forum and International Friendship Day with sister cities.