CRISTO REY

Formerly known as Camp O’Donnell, Cristo Rey used to be a naval Transmitting Facility
by virtue of the 1947 Military Bases Agreement between the Philippines and the United States of
America which is well-recognized in World History.
And because of the Mount Pinatubo eruption (June 1991), President Corazon C. Aquino
issued the Proclamation No.813 “Reserving the Resettlement Site purposes of Mount Pinatubo
victims a certain portion of Clark Air Base Military Reservation located in the Municipality of
Capas, Province of Tarlac” in consideration of the urgent need to assist families affected by the
Mt. Pinatubo eruption though providing them with suitable resettlement areas.
From this, the O’Donnell Resettlement Site (the biggest with a maximum capacity of
accommodating 13,000 families) was established and gave refuge to many evacuees and victims
of the eruption from different barangays of Concepcion and Capas. The community was divided
into 147 blocks representing a cluster of settlers grouped according to their place of origin.
And come August 7, 2003, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Members of Tarlac unanimously
approved the Provincial Ordinance No. 004-2003, creating O’Donnell Resettlement Area in
Barangay to be named Barangay Cristo Rey.
Today, the Barangay houses not only residents but also some commercial establishments
such as the Northern Cup and the Philippines’ largest and best drug reformatory- the Capas Bahay
Pagbabago.