This Week’s Milestones: Jan. 5 – 11, 2020
Jan. 5, 2001
The town of San Fernando in Pampanga province became a city through Republic Act No. 8990, signed by then President Joseph Estrada.
The city’s charter was ratified in a plebiscite on Feb. 3, 2001. This made San Fernando the 99th city of the Philippines.
The city has 35 barangays and has a land area of 6,774 hectares. It had a population of 306,659 in 2015.
Revenues collected by local government in 2018 stood at P1.78 billion.
Jan. 8, 2019
The Department of Information and Communications Technology and the Benguet Electric Cooperative (Beneco) signed a memorandum of agreement for the implementation of the National Broadband Plan pilot project in Baguio City and La Trinidad, Benguet’s capital town.
The national broadband plan sought to bring internet services to remote areas through the use of fiber optic network as digital transmission lines.
Beneco has over 200 kilometers of fiber optic cable lines, allowing it to remotely access, control and manage its electricity distribution stations in all 13 Benguet towns.
The project initially provided internet connectivity to 14 government agencies, including the police regional office, provincial capitol, Benguet General Hospital, Benguet State University and Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration offices in Benguet.
Compiled by Kathleen de Villa, Inquirer Research
