AC commemorates resilience over Pinatubo tragedy

ANGELES CITY – “The Angeleños are worth saving.”

Thus said Mayor Edgardo Pamuntuan in his speech as he led the city’s commemoration of the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo Eruption dubbed “Pamamangun” on June 15 at the Abacan Loop.

Spearheaded by the Angeles City Tourism Office (ACTO) with the Culture and Arts Council of Angeles (CACA) and JCI Angeles Culiat, the event aimed at remembering the city’s rising from the ashes of desolation 27 years after the cataclysmic Mt. Pinatubo eruption.

“We are gathered not to mourn over what we have lost, but to commemorate the heroism and resilience of our people and the individuals who helped us bounce back from the ashes,” said Pamintuan who is also the acting mayor of the city during the onslaught of the eruption.

ACTO Head John Montances said that the city infused a creative approach and a modern take on the commemoration featuring an artistic dance performance from Sinukwan Kapampangan and a dramamusical play about the Pinatubo eruption rendered by Uyat Artista.

The event also highlighted arts and crafts activities such as film showing, face painting and henna tattooing, portrait sketching, puppet shows, spoken poetry, solo and group singing performances.

Further, Pamintuan said that the commemorative program is also intended for the young generations of Angeleños to deepen their appreciation and understanding on the significance of the catastrophe to what the city has attained today.

An on-the-spot poster-making contest was opened to enjoin the participation of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK)

This was disclosed by Vice Mayor Jonathan Pangan yesterday, who noted that the measure already passed second reading after the approval of the Committee on Environmental and Natural Resour ces.

“Garbage, particularly plastic, is one of the biggest problems of our country and we, in the local council of Mexico, are moving to resolve this problem and more importantly, protect and preserve our environment,” he said.

Pangan said that plastic is a big part of the total domestic waste collected from Mexico households, beside the plastic disposed by huge business establishments situated in the town.

He stressed that the impending implementation of the plastic ban will greatly help in the reduction of waste materials, and will help in the implementation of segregation in every household here.

Currently, Pangan said that the local council is formulating the implementing rules and regulations of the measure before it will be integrated in the environment code of the municipality.

Pangan added that they are also still in the process of coordinating with business establishments in the town such as SM City Pampanga and fastfood chains which will be also ordered to strictly adhere to the measure.

“While the City of San Fernando is already implementing their own plastic ban ordinance, we still need to prep up our partner business establishments to ensure that the implementation of our own plastic ban will be successful,” he said.