Plundered anew

NINETEEN YEARS ago, what the wrath of Mount Pinatubo failed to destroy in the American-abandoned Clark Air Base human greed plundered.
So we heard of someone named “Hakot” – as we H-over minding Kapampangans say it – cleaned and cleared the once teeming bastion of American imperialism and decadent capitalism in the Far East not so much of the ash and sand that buried it but of anything of value that remained in it, not even the toilet bowls and sinks spared.
So we read of the most profitable of the novel enterprises that arose from the devastated base: the total demolition of damaged buildings, the scrap – galvanized iron roofing, wood panelings and ceilings, parquet and tile flooring, steel beams – contracted out to junk dealers.
Nineteen years hence, the buried military base has completely – like the proverbial phoenix – risen out of the ashes and transformed itself into the booming Clark Freeport.
Indeed, nineteen years have passed but the plunder of Clark has remained extant. The plunderers of a different breed, but their greedy way all too similar. That is if one is to believe all the talks arising out of the current scandals obtaining at Clark today.
As it was at the time of “Hakot”, so it is now at the time of someone monikered “Boy Demo” aka “Boy Scrap” – the demolition of buildings to make money out of the scrap materials.
The difference is that in the immediate Pinatubo period, only heavily damaged buildings already condemned as dangerous and unserviceable were demolished. This time, even highly serviceable buildings that need but minor refurbishing were being taken down to their very foundation.
Candaba Mayor Jerry Pelayo rued that it would take no less than P120 million to construct just one building similar to those demolished. His is a double lamentation with the wrecker’s ball smashing some of the buildings intended to be part of his proposed Clark One-Stop Agricultural Market that would have showcased the best produce not only of his melon, tilapia, and rice-yielding town but of the rest of Pampanga and Central Luzon.
Such wasted resources! Such wasted opportunities! And at what profit?
Sixteen buildings have been demolished as of last count, 14 only last month. Think of the millions of pesos saved there, per Pelayo’s computation.
Sixteen buildings gone to rabble. And the Clark International Airport Corp., in whose area of responsibility the buildings were located, claimed ignorance of it. So CIAC Board chairman Nestor Mangio himself admitted.
“It has come to my attention that several warehouse structures within the CIAC are being demolished…I understand we have not discussed this matter with the Board. May I know by what authority are these demolitions happening?” wrote Mangio to CIAC President-CEO Victor Jose “Chichos” Luciano early this month.
On whose authority were the buildings demolished? Pelayo has long been asking Luciano too.
The mayor also wanted to know: “Where did the demolition proceeds go? How did these scrap materials go out of the Clark gate? Who are the officials involved here?”
Questions I do hope our good friend Chichos will be able to answer – most convincingly – in a media conference scheduled as we go to press.
In the spirit of fairness, I shall devote the whole of my column for Monday on Chichos’ reply.
Until then, let me remind you that this here is just one part of the “continuing plunder of Clark.” Allegedly.