Ciudad Victoria
For the second time around (the first was in Mindoro Oriental), I was invited by the Automobile Association of the Philippines (AAP) to join another of their drive tourism caravans (the 10th in AAP’s series), this time to Bulacan. The caravan is a tourism program wherein, instead of driving straight to the destination, it moves through a tourism highway or road network that allows participants to see many attractions in between the start and end destinations.
Participants of the AAP Drive Caravan at the Philippine Arena
With the theme “Enjoying Bountiful Harvest and Exploring the Off Beaten Path of History and Culture,” the 57 participants (AAP directors, members, friends and the media), in 14 cars, flagged off one early morning from the Petron Marilao station where we had breakfast and availed ourselves of their clean restrooms.
The event was co-organized by Petron Blaze 100 Euro 4, in partnership with the Department of Tourism Region 3, the tourism office of Bulacan under Gov. Wilhemino Sy-Alvarado, the Tourism Promotions Board, Manila North Tollways Corp. and Aeromed, the official ambulance partner.
The Philippine Arena
Participants first visited the 140-hectare Ciudad de Victoria (also known as the Philippine Arena Complex), a 140-hectare tourism enterprise zone in Bocaue and Santa Maria that integrates residential and office buildings, as well as a complex dedicated to shopping, entertainment, leisure, education, business and sports.
The Philippine Sports Stadium
Ciudad Victoria, owned by the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), a Filipino-based indigenous Christian religious organization, through its educational institution, the New Era University, and operated by Maligaya Development Corporation, houses the magnificent Philippine Arena (a 55,000-seater indoor domed arena that is the world’s largest mixed-use indoor arena) and the 20,000-seater Philippine Sports Stadium (the largest stadium in the Philippines). In commemoration of INC’s centennial celebration on July 27, 2014, it was inaugurated, after three years of construction, on July 21, 2014.
Entrance of the Philippine Sports Stadium
Other buildings within the complex include the Eraño G. Manalo (EGM) Medical Center (an 11-storey, 1st class modern hospital which is the first of its kind in Northern Luzon with 1,000-bed capacity) an Iglesia ni Cristo Chapel (dedicated on May 18, 2018) and the New Era University Bocaue Campus. The landscape for the arena and the whole complex of Ciudad de Victoria was designed by PWP Landscape Architecture, the firm who landscaped the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
Lobby of the Philippine Sports Stadium
Ciudad Victoria: North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), Bocaue. Entrance: Php450. Parking: Php50. Photography is limited to mobile phones. DLSR cameras are not allowed.
Automobile Association Philippines (AAP): 28 EDSA, Greenhills, San Juan City. Tel: (632) 655-5889. Fax: (632) 655-1878. E-mail: info@aap.org.ph. Website: www.aap.org.ph.