The battle for Manila begins.
The battle for the country’s most densely populated city and its estimated 1.7 million residents has started earlier today. Following the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) decision the campaign period for those running for senator and party-list groups in the May 13 polls will run from February 12 to May 11, 2013.
In an interview with The LaSallian, candidates incumbent Manila City Mayor Alfredo Lim, who is running for the third consecutive time, and Former President Joseph Estrada share their plans for the country’s most iconic city.
What are your economic and social plans for Manila?
| Lim: My plans are no longer plans, what began as plans have already materialized. Given three more years as mayor, I guarantee the continuity of the policies and procedures already in place to make Manila a compassionate welfare city, like no other in the country. For the sake of Manilenos and their posterity, my priorities have to remain the same– education, health, peace and order, and vigorous economic development. | Erap: Manila currently occupies the 36th spot out of 38 highly urbanized cities (see DILG website) in the DILG list of best governed local government units, which is a sad state of affairs considering the city’s status as the country’s capital. This translates to a fundamental breakdown in the management of a city that should represent the best of the country.
If the electorate chooses me to be their next leader, my first priority would be to rationalize the city’s current financial state. This translates to tracing the manner in which its funds and other resources have been misspent or else utilized for items other than those for which they were specifically earmarked, and then implementing a program of utilization that is focused and transparent. An important guide in this pursuit will be the most recent report issued by the Commission on Audit (COA) which lists – in great detail – its findings and recommendations on how Manila’s financial standing can be rehabilitated. (see PDI, Aug. 15, 2012, p. A25)
Rationalization will also be a backbone of the social programs I intend to implement in Manila. For example, it is ironic that the city has district hospitals, but that each one lacks even the most basic equipment and supplies to address the health needs of residents. In sum these edifices are little more than white elephants – structures that are hollow and serve no real purpose. Worse, the funds used to build them could have been put to better use by purchasing modern equipment and supplies for existing health facilities in the city.
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What is Manila’s biggest challenge that the city needs to overcome?
| Lim: Manila was such a glorious city before World War II; it was legendary, it was called the “Paris of the Orient,” the “ Milan of Asia” – the “Pearl of the Orient.” After the war, Manila was the second most- destroyed city after Warsaw, Poland. The city’s biggest challenge is Manila’s own past. We are challenged to modernize Manila without losing its nostalgic charm.
Also, the population profile and density of Manila is now very different from what it was fifty years ago. At present, the city has six congressional districts, 897 barangays and 38 council seats. As a result, we are challenged to upgrade infrastructure, to provide more basic services and to create livelihood opportunities for Manila’s growing population.
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Erap: A lack of direction. I believe this is the reason that while cities like San Juan and Valenzuela have made giant leaps forward despite having only recently been declared cities, Manila has declined proportionately. Its historical and cultural wealth notwithstanding, Manila appears to be headed on a downward spiral. It is this lack of direction that creates a sense of drift, as if there is no one really in charge. And if there is no one in charge, then it follows that no one knows where Manila is headed at this point. |
What can you contribute to the city to make it more relevant in the years to come?
| Lim: It is the people who make the city relevant, that is why our priorities have always been people-oriented—education, health, peace and order and economic development. These are the tools that local government officials have to give the people, so they, in turn, would make their city more livable, sustainable and relevant in the future.
In my fifty years of uninterrupted public service, we have made it a point to put in place policies, systems, and procedures that will continue to create favorable conditions for Manila. For example, we instructed the Building Official to follow the National Building Code instead of the local one, which is restrictive. This has attracted local and foreign investments in real estate development.
We have created “one stop shops” and satellite offices for business permits and tax collection to eliminate red tape. This has encouraged existing businesses to remain in Manila, and has attracted new businesses like call centers and business outsourcing, and tourism to the city. Modesty aside, we have also set high standards for good and transparent governance, diminishing red tape, instilling discipline among officials and constituents alike, demanding integrity, respect for law and order, and that forgotten virtue of malasakit in public service.
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Erap: Manila’s relevance will never be lost. It will continue to play a significant role in Philippines contemporary history because of its cultural, social and historical significance. But like I said earlier, clear directions must be set for the city’s short and long-term goals. A leadership that dedicates itself to the achievement of these goals inspires a parallel commitment from the citizenry. There must be “URBAN RENEWAL.”
In my plan to provide more job opportunities to the people of Manila, I aim to promote tourism based on Manila’s cultural heritage to optimize its public markets and trade centers, to support the schools and universities – both public and private, to nurture the senior citizens, to create clean and green areas and install a disaster preparedness program, and of course, stop lawlessness to maintain peace and order at all times. Most especially, I plan to support and provide better opportunities for the students in Manila’s schools and universities. The youth of Manila will determine the city’s future. They must realize that and be given the right support systems to help them make a commitment for Manila.
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What makes Manila unique from all the cities in this country?
What makes it (Manila) special for you?
| Lim: Manila is the only welfare city in the Philippines. The lion’s share of tax revenues is used to give free basic services Manila residents need. We have instituted an absolutely free “womb to tomb” program, which takes care of Manilans through the different stages of life from pre-natal care to burial. Manila is the only city that has a city-run hospital in each district and where everything is given for free, from doctors’ fees to lab analysis, MRI, CTscan, dialysis and even prescribed medicines. Aside from the six city hospitals, five of which were opened under my watch, we have set up 49 more medical centers, established clinics, two mobile clinics and regular medical missions.
Now, with regard to education, Manila pioneered the free college education program when the late Mayor Villegas founded the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila in 1963. But that is only for honor students who graduated from public schools in Manila. We gave the same opportunity to regular students by establishing the City College (now Universidad de Manila). Manila residents’ taxes have also paid for additional school buildings for existing public schools. Manila is one of the few highly urbanized cities in the Philippines where there is no shortage of classrooms. Manila is a compassionate city, a welfare city; it is also a university city whose graduates have contributed to national socioeconomic development.
I was born in Tondo, I spent the first nine years of my life in the Hospicio de San Jose, an orphanage on the Pasig River; we were all orphans there. I grew up in Manila; I played in its streets; I worked in its markets like Divisoria, carrying heavy bundles for shoppers; and I was an ambulant vendor, peddling on busy streets the foodstuff made by my grandma. I was a working student, a product of public schools in Manila. I fell in love in Manila and raised my family here. Manila is close to my heart; I know it like the palm of my hand!
Manila is special because it gave me an opportunity to become a public servant. I started as a policeman, patrolling streets on foot, directing traffic, upholding the rule of law for all Manilans, so they could live in peace and order, Manila is a challenge, a perpetual, but welcome challenge.
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Erap: There is a deeper sense of history and pride in our culture. Being one of the oldest cities in the country, aside from being home to centuries-old institutions such as the University of Sto. Tomas, Manila makes its residents uniquely proud of their history. When foreigners talk or think about Manila, they refer to the entire country. When Manila is called “UGLY”, it is the Philippines that appears “UGLY” (see the interview of the Bourne Legacy director).
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Should you win the elections, how would you like to leave Manila?
What legacy would you like to leave the people?
| Lim: We would like to leave Manila with its legendary Bay, Luneta, still shaped like a crescent, reflecting a dazzling sunset. That means, no more reclamations, but we would like to bequeath Manila a world class financial center at the south harbor so it can, once again, become a must-see destination in Asia of luxury liners loaded with foreign visitors, eager to imbibe its culture, and spend Euros and dollars that will enrich the city’s economy.
But, I want education to be my most important legacy because a democratic system like ours must be based on educated citizens who understand the electoral process and who use their right to vote for the ultimate benefit of this country. Education is the cutting edge and I speak from experience. An educated person will understand the need for upholding the rule of law.
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Erap: I have said before, I intend to be at Manila’s helm for a single term only. There will be time to lay down the foundations of my most important plans and programs for the city. Foremost of this is to set up institutional mechanisms for fiscal transparency, globally competitive investment program, basic social services delivery, solid waste management and disaster preparedness, housing and peace and order. If I succeed, the vice-mayor and the city council will continue the programs and projects because the institutions will already be in place. I would have left a legacy of progress and development for my successors.
Likewise if I succeed in fostering a greater sense of community in the hearts of the people of Manila – the willingness to help their fellowmen and their city as a whole so that everyone can move forward – then I would have accomplished what I set out to do. I would have shown my family and the people of Manila that Erap is a son who honors the service of his father, Emilio – a public servant of the City of Manila for 30 years – and that the city occupies a very special place in his heart.
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