Ecija’s Freedom Park now safe from thugs

CABANATUAN City – Couples and night owls would now feel safe strolling at Nueva Ecija’s premier park located in the heart of this commercial center point in northeastern Central Luzon.

Freedom Park where the renowned Tatang Ding Joson glorietta is located is already free of stick-up men and criminals. This has come about when the long and winding road traversed by a four-man band of suspected professional robbers and killers had reached dead-end. They were nabbed in separate follow-up operations here and in the southern towns of San Isidro and San Antonio.

This caused Gov. Tomas N. Joson III to remark that "Cabanatuan residents and Novo Ecijanos together with thousands of local tourists, business travelers and stop-over motorists have retaken the free and open space that once belonged to them."

Joson, along this line, commended the PNP provincial director Sr. Supt. Alex Paul Monteagudo; city police chief Supt. Jesus Gordon P. Descanzo; and local police intelligence head, Supt. Roel B. Obusan.

"Gang members Rollie del Rosario, Michael Lopez, Danilo Pulbos and Basilio of Davao del Sur can no longer sow fear in the hearts of law-abiding citizens who just want to get their fare share of clean and fresh air and ornamental sights to behold," he said.

Joson also disclosed that Freedom Park also showcases products made in the province whenever the local government holds trade fairs and agro-tourism exhibits.

Provincial Trade Promotions director Quirico Javier volunteered that the late Gov. Eduardo "Tatang" Joson initially spearheaded the move to turn this provincial government property in the heart of this trade hub into a People’s Park.

Javier said that the acknowledged father of the province’s leap into the big league envisioned an open space with arboreal surroundings and basic amenities. He added that "Tatang" had in mind a place where folks coming from the frontiers and outlying fringes of Nueva Ecija can take their families on weekends while Metro Manila visitors can unwind after two hours of driving on their way to the Cagayan Valley or the Pacific coast. For his part, Bienvenido Cayanga of the provincial governor’s office added that when Tatang’s son, Tommy, the incumbent governor, took over in 1992, he further beautified the park and this culminated in its present condition of properly manicured landscape and orderly layout.