SUBIC FREEPORT — Construction of the P250-million “Holy Land Subic” theme park formally kicked off at the heart of a 20-hectare project site near the security plaza of this Freeport’s Tipo gate.

Inspired by biblical events and carefully planned to fit the natural terrain of the area, the Holy Land Subic Theme Park and Sanctuary project is expected to make Subic a unique pilgrimage destination, said Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Administrator Armand Arreza.

“This will be the first of its kind in the country,” Arreza said during the project groundbreaking over the weekend.

“We expect that after about one-year of construction work, visitors would be enjoying Bible tours right inside the forests of Subic,” he added.

According to Ma. Basilia “Maribi” Garcia, project proponent and concept director of the non-stock, non-profit Holy Land Subic Foundation, Inc., the park “will become the new Jerusalem in this part of the country.”

“This is the realization of our dream of having a place like you could find in Jerusalem,” said Garcia, who is also a co-founder and president of Bethesda Healing Ministry.

“We thought it should be constructed near Manila so that more local and foreign tourists could visit without worrying about accessibility. And Subic just came to mind,” she said.

Earlier, Bethesda conducted an outreach mission in Pastolan, an Aeta community inside the Freeport, and it was then that the tribal council offered them a portion of land as site of the project.

“It was the perfect place,” Garcia said, after seeing the offered location.

In February 2010, the SBMA board of directors approved the proposal for the project and a contract was signed between the foundation and the SBMA.

Meanwhile, Jewish foods will be sold in food carts manned by Aeta tribesmen who will be trained under the Bethesda Spring of Hope Livelihood Program for the Indigenous People.

“Most of our crews will be hired from the Aeta tribal community as our way of thanking them for helping us find this place,” Garcia said.

Aetas will also be hired as forest rangers, jungle guides, foot massage therapists, housekeeping staff for hotels and housing units, and park attendants.