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About Angeles City, Philippines
In 1903, when the US Army decided to set up camp in the province of Pampanga in the Philippines, it turned the sleepy railroad side town of Angeles into the flourishing, bustling, pulsating, and vibrant Angeles City that it is today.

The former US Air Force Clark Air Base is located in the northwestern part of Angeles City, about 80 kilometers away from Metro Manila in the Philippines. Clark Air Base was the largest base outside of the US that the Americans had when they were still in possession of it. Clark Air Base was also previously called Fort Stotsenburg and was initially under the control of the US Army. But after the Americans recaptured the base from the Japanese in World War II, The US Army turned over Fort Stotsenburg to the US Air Force and was then renamed to Clark Air Base.

Almost immediately, Clark Air Base began attracting a lot of investments and opportunities to the City of Angeles. This period right after World War II was also the time of dramatic change, fast growth, and increased development in Angeles City. A lot of businesses, especially those specializing in fun and entertainment, mushroomed all around the US Air Force Clark Air Base.

The quiet town of Angeles was not officially recognized as a Philippine city. The great and rapid progress that was seen in Angeles during that time encouraged the province of Pampanga to declare Angeles City as the premier city of the entire Central Luzon in the Philippines. Angeles City became the center and main focal point of commercial businesses and of transportation, tourism, finance, and trade industries.

Angeles City also became known as the place to go especially for leisure and entertainment activities because of the hundreds of bars and nightclubs there. In fact, Angeles City has been given the title “The Entertainment Capital of Central Luzon”.

However on June 10, 1991, the second largest terrestrial eruption of the twentieth century happened. Nearby volcano Mount Pinatubo erupted and devastated Clark Air Base and Angeles City. The catastrophic event drove well over 60,000 people to evacuate Clark Air Base and the City of Angeles, including the thousands of Americans and ex-GIs who lived in the area and in the base. Mount Pinatubo’s eruption, along with the Philippine government’s rejection of an extension of the Military Base Agreement in that same year, prompted Clark Air Base to be transferred to Philippine ownership and to be shut down permanently.

While Angeles City may have heavily relied on the US Air Force Clark Air Base at the start, this city in Pampanga still continues to thrive and prosper despite the closing down of the base and even without the presence of the Americans. The former Clark Air Base became Clark Special Economic Zone and was recently renamed Clark Freeport Philippines (CFP) on March 20, 2007.

The 33,000 hectares of CFP in Angeles City is now the location of a variety of hotels, resorts, spas, casinos, cafes, restaurants, golf courses, shooting ranges, retail shopping areas, duty free shops, and other establishments. It also hosts world class tourist attractions such as St. Peter’s Shrine, the Candaba Swamps, Mount Arayat National Park, Paskuhan (Christmas) Village, the Pampanga Agricultural College, and other historical travel tours, treks, and events.

Additionally, because CFP is mandated as a Freeport zone by the Philippine government, this permits investors and businesses to come in and invest in Clark while enjoying duty-free and tax-free privileges. So far, nearly 400 local and domestic investors have put up businesses in CFP in Angeles City, employing close to 50,000 people, and generating over US$500 million worth of investments for the Philippines.

The establishment of an international airport, the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA), in CFP has put Angeles City in the position of turning into a future premier tourist destination. Now, especially with the low cost carriers that operate in DMIA, Clark in Angeles City is closer to realizing its goal of becoming not only the gateway to the Asia Pacific Region, but also as “Asia’s Most Affordable Gateway”. These budget airlines, namely Tiger Airways, South East Asian Airlines, and Air Asia, provide locals and tourists alike a convenient and inexpensive link between the Philippines and its neighboring countries such as Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Korea, and etc. So what is it like living in Angeles City?

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