Bulacan towns get ready for INC arena opening

CITY OF MALOLOS, Philippines—Residents of Bocaue, Sta. Maria, Marilao and Balagtas towns in Bulacan have been busy sprucing up 24 villages along the main highway for Monday’s inauguration of the Iglesia Ni Cristo’s (INC) Philippine Arena, billed as the “world’s largest indoor arena.”

President Aquino is expected to grace the formal opening of the dome, which was designed to seat 55,000 people, as well as a sports stadium along the North Luzon Expressway.

Motorists taking the expressway can drive to the new facility, which is less than a kilometer from the Bocaue toll exit.

Glen Reyes, Bulacan provincial engineer, said he had deployed teams for major cleaning operations of all major routes leading to the 70-hectare Ciudad de Victoria or City of Victory where the Philippine Arena stands.

After Monday’s launch, the area will also host about 1 million visitors for the INC centennial celebration on July 27.

Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado said the Philippine Arena would draw people to a Central Bulacan Tourism Loop, a tourism-oriented development cluster composed of seven towns and 29 villages where 162,200 people reside.

Alvarado said he was hoping the arena would be chosen to host one of the forums during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit next year.

Arlene Pascual, head of the provincial planning and development office, said the tourism loop requires the improvement of 23 road systems in Bocaue and Sta. Maria and portions of Marilao. The province will also improve two other roads that traverse the towns of Plaridel, Bustos, Pandi and Balagtas.

Tourists are expected to visit the Inang Filipina Shrine in Pandi, the birthplace of the Republic of Kakarong, one of the three republics established in Bulacan during the Philippine Revolution.–Carmela Reyes-Estrope