January 23, 2009 04:01 PM Friday
[ journal.com.ph ]
THE National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) expressed support for the scheduled transfer of the Rizal Provincial Capitol to Antipolo City from its present site in Pasig.
According to a technical study prepared by NEDA, Antipolo City is the most ideal site for the new capitol.
NEDA had also earlier called the attention of the Rizal provincial government regarding the location of its capitol outside of the province’s territorial jurisdiction, noting that this is “contrary to current policies.” The 57-year-old Rizal Capitol has been located outside the province’s jurisdiction since 1975 when Metro Manila was formally constituted, NEDA said.
Rizal province now consists of a cluster of eastern towns separate and distinct from Metro Manila by virtue of P.D. 824 issued on November 7, 1975.
Antipolo City has been selected as the site of the new capitol for its centrality, accessibility, infrastructure support, amenities and the quality of the land.
In a related development, Rizal Gov. Casimiro Ynares III announced that the inauguration of the new capitol will be on March 4, 2009.
Governor Ynares said operations at the present capitol site “is now on winding down mode.” He advised the public to watch out for the official opening of the new capitol so that parties with transactions with the provincial government would not be unnecessarily inconvenienced.
The new three-storey capitol is located on a three-hectare site beside the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
The governor said the transfer to the new site is a “decisive response to clamor among our constituents to locate the center of the provincial government inside the province’s territorial jurisdiction.”
He said the scheduled opening of the new 8,200-square-meter capitol building “marks the end to decades of question as to why the seat of the Rizal provincial government continued to be in Pasig City which has long been outside the province’s territory.”
