Page 7 - The PH Source Vol 4 No 2 - Pascual

transparent adding that all biddings referred to by the older generation as
would have to be competitive and the Poblacion.
not pre-arranged. While walking, Mayor Emeng tra-
the radical increase in the finan- versed the community where he and
cial status of the city also allowed his family are living and presented a
them to provide the essential services strip which he claimed formed part
for free – free hospitalization, check- of the first phase of the city govern-
up, medicines and education among ment’s effort to restore the place
many other public necessities. close to how it actually looked like
its financial position also gave one hundred years ago.
Gapan the ability to construct farm according to him, they are already
to market roads, provision of agri- on the second phase of restoring the
cultural equipment and subsidy to old Poblacion he’d prefer to call as
the agriculture for which Gapan is lumang Gapan -- boasting of re-

er years saw in their family photo
album.
the place, which is already in
itself is remarkable by day, seemed to
be more fascinating by night as local
artists serenade visitors and passers-
by along the enchanting strip of old
heritage houses.

Safe Place to Live
for Mayor Emeng, days of crime
and violence are things of the past
and in the last five years saw Gapan
known for. stored structures, roads built out of move out of the list of perennial elec-
cobblestones, Spanish era houses, tion hotspots, while crime rate was
Restoring Lumang Gapan elegant vintage lamp posts, eateries reduced to a manageable level.
if there’s one thing that Mayor offering local delicacies, century-old Gapan also boasts of being the
Emeng wanted to leave behind when trees, which he during his young-
he finally steps down from the top
local elective post, it would just be
the legacy of being able to restore
the culture and heritage of Gapan.
Pascual wants to preserve Gapan’s
culture and heritage as depicted in
memorabilia and reference books on
the Philippine history.
as such, the youthful local chief
executive embarked on a two-phase
program seen to restore their historic
place back in its form.
the process of meticulously
restoring lumang Gapan, he added,
should be something that would
allow past, present and future gen-
erations to look back every now and
then.
Pascual took the Philippine
Source Magazine team for a short
tour to a place which has been

January – March 2021 | The Philippine Source 53