BATANG MAYNILA
Manila Mayor Isko Moreno
We in the city of Manila are indeed very fortunate and still blessed to be ahead of so many challenges being hurled our way by the ongoing pandemic.
Last March 25, I signed Ordinance 8739 authorizing a supplemental budget that would cover the
expenses for the city government’s Food Security Program (FSP). Four days later, the whole of National Capital Region, which covers Manila, was among those that were reverted to enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) status.
The ordinance thus armed us with the capability to provide food for our city residents who stand to be additionally burdened by the ECQ which had to be done due to the alarming spike in COVID-19 cases in the entire country.
Ordinance 8739 notes, among others, that in view of the continuing rise of confirmed cases of COVID-19, the serious threat to the health, safety, security, and lives of our countrymen, the long-term adverse effects on their means of livelihood and the severe disruption of economic activities, a state of national emergency was declared over the entire country.
As such, all government agencies and local government units (LGUs) have been enjoined to render full assistance to and cooperation with each other and mobilize the necessary resources to undertake critical, urgent, and appropriate disaster response aid and measures in a timely manner to curtail and eliminate the threat of COVID-19.
Under the Local Government Code, a supplemental budget may be enacted by the City Council in times of public calamity by way of budgetary realignment to set aside appropriations for the purchase of supplies and materials or the payment of services which are exceptionally urgent or absolutely indispensable to prevent imminent danger to, or loss of, life or property, in the jurisdiction of the local government unit or in other areas declared by the President in a state of calamity. Such ordinances shall clearly indicate the sources of funds available for appropriations, as certified under oath by the local treasurer and local accountant and attested by the local chief executive, and the various items of appropriations affected and the reasons for the change.
In total support of the city government’s determination that no one in Manila should go hungry, the Manila City Council headed by my ever supportive Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna as its presiding officer and majority floorleader Atty. Joel Chua, led the local legislative body in passing a solution approving the amendment of the annual investment program and the issuance of a supplemental investment program for the fiscal year 2021. This is meant to augment the maintenance and other operating expenses, particularly the welfare good expenses of the Manila Department of Social Welfare in the amount of P1,427,000,000 billion for the implementation of the city’s FSP.
The funds for this shall be derived from funds actually available as certified by the City Treasurer and City Accountant.
We in the local government have boldly launched the said FSP aimed at keeping the city’s some 700,000 families fed, the best way we know how.
The program is a result of our determination to curb hunger caused by the growing lack of means to make ends meet, by providing all families in the city with regular food assistance comprising of basic and staple commodities like rice, coffee and canned goods.
As I have said time and again, it is my goal to make sure that in Manila, no one will get hungry amid the pandemic and we will be doing this to the best of our ability.
In order to fulfill this, we had to sacrifice some infrastructure plans. Unlike our constituents, roads and streets do not have stomachs that would go hungry.
It is in this light that I have also asked for the understanding of the public if they come across potholes or uneven roads while traversing the city. We had to sacrifice certain road projects in exchange for food and monetary support for Manilans who have been hit hard by the pandemic financially.
So far, so good. My heartfelt thanks goes not only to Vice Mayor Lacuna, majority floorleader Chua and the Manila Councilors, but also to our city personnel who are involved in the packing and delivery of the food boxes to the barangays which, in turn, are expected to distribute the food boxes to the residents under their respective areas of responsibility.
The dedication of my fellow workers in the city government truly make me proud.
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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!
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For updates on latest developments in the city of Manila, please visit my Facebook account – ‘Isko Moreno Domagoso.’