By Jhon Casinas “This has been the most challenging 100 days of my life.” Pasig City Mayor Victor Ma. “Vico” Sotto said this during his first State of the City Address late Tuesday afternoon, marking his first 100 days in office. Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto
(KEVIN TRISTAN ESPIRITU / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) Standing on the steps of historic Plaza Bonifacio, witnessed by his mother—actress Coney Reyes—together with Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo, the city council and Pasigueños, the young new mayor of one of the top cities in the country reported the accomplishments of his administration. The 30-year-old mayor began his speech by painting a positive outlook on the state of healthcare and medical services offered by the city government. Sotto highlighted his objective of making Pasig City to be the first local government to implement the Universal Health Care. He said that the city government has allotted P36 million in 2019 for Pasig City residents to be covered by PhilHealth. The city government, he said, has also allocated P152 million for the repair and the rehabilitation of facilities and structures of all 42 health centers in the city. In his “Big V Agenda”, which will be focused on health, housing, education, people empowerment and anti-corruption, Sotto admitted that housing was the most difficult of all. However, Sotto said that within the span of 100 days, the city government has finished the inventory of all government-owned lands and identified more than 10 areas for future housing projects for informal settler families. Sotto then turned the spotlight on the changes that his administration has made for the education sector of the city. “Here in Pasig, for the first time, our scholarship program is no longer named after a politician but named after Pasigueños,” Sotto proudly said. Formerly known as the BCE Scholarship Program named after former Mayor Robert “Bobby” Eusebio, Sotto signed on September 25 an ordinance renaming the scholarship program to Pasig City Scholarship Program. With the new educational program, Sotto said that more students could avail of the scholarship. By next year, Sotto said that the number of Pasig City scholars will be at a record of 16,000. Sotto said the city government has allocated P1.2 billion for the education programs and projects in its 2020 budget. For the scholarship program alone, he said the city government has allotted P420 million. The millennial mayor, however, admitted that it has been a difficult road towards the 100-day mark of his term. Sotto disclosed that according to a 2018 Commission on Audit (COA) report, the existence and validity of inventories for supplies and materials amounting to P1.4 billion cannot be ascertained. The state auditors, he said, has also noted that the procurement of supplies and materials worth P1 billion from January to to June 2019 was excessive. In an ambush interview with reporters after the event, Sotto said that whoever was responsible for the discovered anomalies should be held accountable. However, was quick to explain that he was not the type of leader that digs up the mistakes of his predecessor. “For me, when I see a mistake, I will fix it. It does not mean that I will be looking for mistakes or that we are putting the heat on all of those in the past. It is not like that,” Sotto said in a mix of Filipino and English. The mayor told reporters that his focus right now was governance. “My job is to look at what is here right now what is in our government right now. So if I see an erring government employee or official in our administration, that is where I will focus on. I will not be the one to go on a witch hunt for those events that have happened in the past,” he said. Sotto’s address lasted for about 40 minutes.