The Philippine Centennial International Exposition 1998, also known as Expo Pilipino, was a world fair organized as part of the 100th anniversary of the June 12, 1898 declaration of

Philippine Independence The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. The event, which showcased Philippine history and culture, was held in a 60-hectare site at the

Clark Special Economic Zone Clark, officially the Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone (CFEZ), is a freeport and special economic zone in Central Luzon, Philippines, managed by the Clark Development Corporation (CDC), a government-owned and controlled corporation (GO ...

Mabalacat Mabalacat, officially Mabalacat City (; ), is a component city in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 293,244 people. Mabalacat is in the urban core of Metro Clark, also known as Metro ...

Pampanga Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga (; ; ), is a province in Central Luzon in the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac to the north, Nueva Ecija to the northeast, Bulacan to the east, ...

. The exposition, including its site, was a project of the National Centennial Commission (NCC) and the Philippine Centennial Exposition Corporation.

Facilities

The Expo Pilipino had a 35,000-seat

amphitheater An amphitheatre ( U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meaning "place for vie ...

which was used as a site for concerts, ecumenical services and political rallies after exhibitions at the complex were halted.

Participants

The exposition had a projected 150 investors participating as of May 1998.

Budget

The construction of Expo Filipino entailed a total budget of

₱ The Philippine peso sign (₱) is the currency symbol used for the Philippine peso, the official currency of the Philippines. The symbol resembles a Latin script, Latin letter P with two horizontal strokes. It differs from the currency symbol u ...

3.5 billion (

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

63.64 million). Then-

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Fidel V. Ramos Fidel Valdez Ramos (; March 18, 1928 – July 31, 2022), popularly known as FVR, was a Filipino general and politician who served as the 12th president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He was the only career military officer to reached ...

directed three state-run financial institutions— Social Security System (SSS), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), and

Land Bank of the Philippines Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), often referred to simply as LandBank, is a government-owned bank in the Philippines with a special focus on serving the needs of farmers and fishermen. While it provides the services of a universal bank, it ...

—to lend a total of ₱1.4-billion (US$25.45-million) to the joint venture.

Legacy

The project was criticized for the excessive amounts of money that went to its construction. Particular targets of criticism were: a "Freedom Ring" (>₱1.2-billion); a parking lot (₱111-million); an entry zone (₱118-million); display villages (₱290-million); and an artificial river (₱76-million) that had bridges spanning it (total ₱32-million). Expo Filipino closed down in 1999 under President

Joseph Estrada Joseph Ejercito Estrada (; born Jose Marcelo Ejercito; April 19, 1937), also known by the nickname Erap, is a Filipino politician and former actor, who served as the 13th president of the Philippines from 1998 until his resignation in 2001. ...

, allegedly after sustaining heavy losses. The Expo Pilipino site was reopened on December 8, 2005 as Clark Expo, an events venue by the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) for trade shows and other events. The former Expo Pilipino venue was redeveloped as part of President

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal-Arroyo (; born April 5, 1947), often referred to as PGMA or GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician who served as the 14th president of the Philippines from Presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, 2001 to 2010 ...

's directive to boost

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

and investment activities inside the

. The site served as the venue of the 25th anniversary celebration of the Philippines' longest-running noontime show, ''

Eat Bulaga! ''Eat !'' (; stylized as ''Eat... Bulaga!'') is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine television variety show broadcast by Radio Philippines Network, ABS-CBN, GMA Network and TV5 (Philippine TV network), TV5. Originally hosted by Tito S ...

'' , dubbed as ''Eat Bulaga! Silver Special'' held on November 19, 2004, as well as venue for the grand finale of the first season of the reality television show ''

Pinoy Big Brother ''Big Brother'' () is a Philippine television reality competition show broadcast by ABS-CBN, Kapamilya Channel, TV5, and GMA Network based on the Dutch reality television franchise '' Big Brother''. Originally hosted by Willie Revillame, ...

''. A portion of the Clark Expo site was redeveloped into

Nayong Pilipino Clark The Nayong Pilipino Clark is a cultural park featuring themed areas of Filipino culture at the Clark Freeport Zone in Mabalacat, Pampanga. History The Nayong Pilipino Foundation (NPF) originally was maintained a cultural theme park in Pasay which ...

. In early 2010, most of the remaining site was relaunched as Clark Education City by the Australian International Training and Management Group (AITMG). Initial construction of the campus cost AU$6-million, with a capacity of 15,000 students. The institution delivers a range of vocational courses accredited by the Australian government, English-language teaching, and customized training for mining, oil and gas, and affiliated industries. The facility now operates as Site Skills Training RTO 32531, which is one of the business units of Site Group International in the Philippines.

References

External links