Presidential aspirant and Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso maintained that he is more than ready for the highest position in the country after accomplishing all that he needed to do in the City of Manila.
During TV host Korina Sanchez’s Upuan ng Katotohanan -The Presidentiables segment on Feb. 4, Domagoso asserted that he is ready to become the next leader of the country with his 23 years of experience in government service.
"Una, lahat ng kompromiso sa mga taga-Maynila noong nakaraang halalan, may resibo na. Kumbaga, natupad naming lahat 'yung pangako namin tapos sumobra pa. So, we were, nung ina-assess namin parang nagulat kami. Kaya palang gawin ito (First, all the commitment we gave to the people of Manila during the last election bore fruits already. We fulfilled our promises and went even further. So, when we were assessing what we have done, we were surprised. We can do it in a short period of time. I cannot guarantee you a perfect government, but together we can make it better," he said.
Domagoso said he joined the presidential race to offer what he has done in Manila that are duplicable and scalable.
"I took 23 years of my life, half of my life, 23 years of experience. At least, hindi naman ako papahuli sa academic background kahit papano naman I tried to equip myself. Ito gagamitin nating lahat. Experience sa Maynila, experience sa paggu-gobyerno, dealing with people, trying to be reasonable with them (I have the academic background because I tried my best to equip myself. We will all use it -- my experience in Manila, experience in governance, dealing with people, trying to be reasonable with them),” he added.
Domagoso's political career started in 1998 after he was elected as a city councilor of Manila. He was only 23 years old and a high school graduate at the time.
He pursued higher education and earned a degree in Business Administration at the International Academy of Management and Economics (IAME).
Domagoso also continued his post-graduate studies at Harvard University under the Executive Education Program and Strategic Leadership Program at Oxford University.
He also had two years of law school at the Arellano University and Local Finance at the University of the Philippines' National College on Public Administration and Governance (UP-NCPAG).
After serving three terms as councilor, he was elected vice mayor in 2007.
In 2016, he decided to run for the Senate but lost. He was then appointed by President Duterte as chairman of the North Luzon Railways Corporation.
In 2019, Domagoso was elected as Manila mayor.