BATANG MAYNILA
Mayor Isko Moreno
First and foremost, Happy Holidays everyone, specially to all my beloved “Batang Maynila”!!!
I do hope that all of you, our dear readers, had a safe, meaningful, and joyous Christmas celebration despite the pandemic.
As another year draws to a close, I look back with much gratitude first of all, to our dear God, for all the blessings and guidance He so graciously showered us during the past year.
My deepest gratitude also goes to all those who made my first year and a half in office very fruitful, productive, and filled with so much accomplishments that even I did not imagine could be achieved in so short a time and amid an emergency health situation at that.
As you all know, I and Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna were greeted with a huge deficit and depleted funds when we assumed office in 2019 so that back then, I thought that restoring the status of Manila as the country’s capital city was next to impossible.
But as it turned out, the saying “God provides” proved to be truer than true as we went along with our efforts to bring the city of Manila back on its feet after years of total neglect. It is indeed, a gargantuan task but we are getting there.
I feel fortunate, first off, for having a very supportive and tireless vice mayor in the person of Ate Honey Lacuna-Pangan. Corollarily, I have and continued to enjoy the invaluable support she gives in her capacity as the presiding officer of the Manila City Council.
And then of course, there is the full backing of the members of the Manila City Council, who have made all major projects that the city government had embarked on possible, via enabling ordinances that see passage in record time. At this point, I also thank and laud council Majority Floor Leader Joel Chua for always extending help whenever and even if not asked.
It is noteworthy that the vice mayor, City Council officials and members have made extra effort in passing ordinances that require immediate implementation, specially in view of the pandemic.
The Manila City Council have held even evening sessions as they worked overtime on countless occasions, specially if administration-backed measures that will benefit Manilans have to be passed at once.
Similarly, my fellow officials at the Manila City Hall also deserve all the credit and gratitude for going above and beyond the call of duty, by being at the frontlines in the fight against COVID-19, performing functions that are no longer in their job description.
Special thanks of course, goes to our health frontliners who have been risking, up until this time, their very own health, safety, and even lives – as well as those of their loved ones’ – just to save others and make sure that the Manila populace is well taken care of, even at the height of infections and deaths brought about by the onset of the deadly coronavirus.
To the countless number of supporters, both in the public and private sector, who have showered the local government with their generous donations that help sustain our projects, specially those aimed at fighting COVID-19. These are businesses big and small as well as
private citizens based here and abroad who have donated cash ranging from a dollar to millions.
To them, my heartfelt thanks and appreciation and I could only pray for God to bless them and make their tribe increase. Their donations have indeed gone a long, long way to fund many of our projects, both big and small, thus spelling a lot of savings on the part of the city
government and enabling us to put city funds in other equally important endeavors that also redound to the benefit of Manilans.
In behalf of the people of Manila, I also commend and thank the men and women of the Manila Police District (MPD) for keeping our beloved city peaceful and orderly at all times and also, for serving as frontliners in the wake of the pandemic.
Last but certainly not the least, I would like, to of course, express my greatest gratitude and appreciation, to the citizens of Manila and the netizens, who have been there from Day 1 to bring to my attention things that need to be fixed or done or that require my immediate action and to the members of the media who have been helpful in disseminating vital information down to the grassroots level.
With the citizens’ continued backing, I don’t think anything can go wrong. Manila can look forward to better days ahead. Happy New Year one and all!!!
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Gaya ng paulit-ulit kong sinasabi, kailangan ko ang tulong ninyong lahat. Walang magmamalasakit sa Maynila kundi tayo ding mga Batang Maynila. Manila, God first!***
For updates on latest developments in the city of Manila, please visit my Facebook account – ‘Isko Moreno Domagoso.’