JASA, the show window of Pampanga

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

The Jose Abad Santos Avenue or the JASA has undergone numerous transformation over the years particularly the portion from Bacolor to Mexico town, passing through the territorial jurisdiction of the City of San Fernando.

What used to be the Olongapo-Gapan Road (OG Road) or what others call the GSO (Gapan-San Fernando-Olongapo) Road was renamed after Jose Abad Santos, the fifth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines who briefly served as the Acting President of the Commonwealth and Acting Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines during World War II.

He was eventually killed by the Japanese forces for refusing to cooperate during their occupation in the Philippines during the said war, epitomizing his nationalism and patriotism.

The JASA, for the information of the millennials, was once a narrow asphalted national road with shrubs and bushes on its shoulder and rice and corn fields on both sides. With the road quite narrow, its road shoulder is likewise narrow. Nonetheless, because of the minute volume of vehicles passing the JASA then, traffic congestion was not a pr obl em.

The year came when some residences were built alongside the JASA and were eventually joined by small carinderias and variety stores and some intermittent vendors of boiled corn cooked in tin drums.

Soon, the small commercial establishments sprouted such as restaurants, shops, gasoline stations especially on the San Fernando portion of the JASA. Although they were not that classy or opulent then, they became what they are now over the years.

By the way, alongside JASA then were small trees that provide shade on the road. Although there were not that many, aligned along the avenue then were acacias, ipil-ipils, bananas and narras. When commercialization of the places sets in, the trees vanished. Government regulations on treecutting were not that strict then perhaps.

Later on, some residences from nipa huts to simple bungalow houses were eaten up by commercial stalls, buildings and other concrete structures until eventually, the JASA became the show window of the City of San Fernando and Mexico town.

Today, there are malls, banks, office buildings, restaurants, grocery stores, a number of gasoline stations, bus and jeepney terminals, vehicle showrooms, television and radio stations, drugstores, hard wares stores, lantern stalls and a lot of other commercial establishments.

The San Fernando portion of the JASA has likewise become the show window of the Province of Pampanga being at the heart of the city that is intersected by the Mac Arthur Highway and the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX).

When view from the top, the said portion of the JASA is transformed quite similar to the Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) in Metro Manila where the great volume of vehicles pass and on the side are signs of industrial and commercial growth and development. Add to these is the sporadic traffic jams of various types of vehicles during rush hour s.

The JASA has transformed tremendously indeed through the years. ***

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