BATANG MAYNILA
I thank the good Lord that this past week, we were able to hold a soft opening of the newly-rehabilitated Manila Zoo and inaugurate and formally open the new Manila District Traffic Enforcement Unit (MDTEU) headquarters , even as we also broke ground for the construction of a new building for the Boy Scouts of the Philippines.
The zoo’s soft opening last Thursday we made exclusive for some 1,300 construction workers who toiled to finish the renovation works fast and efficiently.
It is in fulfillment of a promise I made to the workers during my previous visits to the area, wherein I told them that they would be the new Manila Zoo’s first visitors and that they could bring their families with them during the soft opening.
I want them to savor the fruits of their labor. I want them to be proud of their work and boast to their families what they contributed to the new, modern and beautiful Manila Zoo.
It is also the city government’s way of thanking them for their hard work and dedication.
In relation to this, I have asked the Manila City Council headed by Vice Mayor and Presiding Officer Honey Lacuna and Majority Floorleader Atty. Joel Chua to come up with a city ordinance that would peg the new admission rates for the newly-renovated Manila Zoo, which is expected to formally open to the public next year.
I also asked kind-hearted individuals or groups to donate or lend animals, in addition to those that the city government had ordered so far and the response had been very encouraging.
Among others, the city will be acquiring flamingos — those tall, wading birds with long, slender legs and necks and thick downturned bills.
We are also currently working on the possibility of having another elephant to serve as a companion of 50-year-old Mali and which we would name ‘Posam,’ even as we are working on acquiring a giraffe.
I am excited specially for the children because of the totally new experience that the zoo would offer. The new, modern cages will enable the public to take a closer look at the animals.
We have built cages that simulate nature, unlike the typical ones and wherein the children will be able to see the animals face-to-face since only a thick glass divides the visitors from the animals.
The new sewage treatment plant inside is an added facility that would ensure that the zoo does not add any pollutant to the Manila Bay. It will be recalled that the said zoo was shut down in January 2019, after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources tagged its sewage as a major pollutant of Manila Bay.
Upon my assumption to office, we used the closure of the zoo as an opportunity to implement much-needed rehabilitation, a first since it was opened way back in 1959.
Regarding the new Manila District Traffic Enforcement Unit (MDTEU) headquarters located on Blumentritt, again, I thank Vice Mayor Honey and third district Rep. Yul Servo for helping me realize what used to be just plans to build a new, modern and decent headquarters for the traffic personnel of the MPD, in lieu of its old, filthy, smelly and cramped up office in Port Area where it had been squatting for the past decades.
To me, it is high time that the police personnel of the MDTEU be given a decent place to work in, considering that the office of any public servant is considered as one’s second home.
The new, fully-air conditioned and two-storey headquarters sits on a 1,145 square meter lot and its first floor comes complete with a big parking space, canteen, outdoor lobby, shaded path walk, high-ceiling main lobby, emergency clinic, health office, patrol office, radio room, investigation office, chief’s office, complaints action office, locker rooms and shower room.
At the second floor are the conference room with pantry, offices of the chief, deputy, operations, administration, inspectors, engineering and education. Aside from the door lounge and common toilets, the jail cells also have their own comfort rooms.
Thank you to all those who continue to help us in the city government for our plans to materialize.
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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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