BATANG MAYNILA
Manila Mayor Isko Moreno
On Feb. 1, 2022, our Chinese-Filipino brothers and sisters will be celebrating the Chinese New Year.
I join them in this momentous occasion and extend my heartfelt greetings to all the members of the Chinese-Filipino community in the city and the entire country as well.
Every step along the way of our governance as mayor of Manila, the Chinoys have always been there, constantly helping and supporting our worthy efforts to provide the best possible services not only for them but for the entire city of Manila.
The great contributions of Chinoys to the city’s progress over the years are worthy of the highest commendation and I thank them for supporting the local government of Manila in all its undertakings.
Particularly, my gratitude goes to them for all the help that had been extended by them to the city government, from the onset of the pandemic up to the present.
In fact, at the height of the pandemic, the China government allowed us in the city government to procure, at cost, 400,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines, making the city of Manila the only local government unit that had been able to do so. Again, I thank the government of China and our Chinoy friends for helping me achieve this.
Just like them, I too am saddened by the need to tone down the usual revelry that attends the yearly Chinese New Year celebration specially at the Chinatown district in Ongpin, Binondo.
Manila is host to one of the biggest Chinatowns in the world and we also have the longest, noisiest and most colorful celebration of Chinese New Year. However, activities related to the occasion had to be cancelled in view of the recent surge in COVID infections nationwide.
Just like how activities to mark the Christmas season had to be disallowed, the traditional holding of parades, dragon and lion dances and lighting of firecrackers in the streets for the Chinese New Year revelry will also be prohibited, even as a liquor ban particularly in the Chinatown area or in Binondo will also be strictly implemented.
The said prohibition is contained in an executive order that I have signed recently. It was duly attested to by Secretary to the Mayor Bernie Ang, himself of Chinese-Filipino descent and a prominent figure in the Chinoy community, who said that even China has canceled its Lunar New Year celebration for millions of migrants whom it discouraged from coming home for the Chinese holidays. Even if the traditional activities in Manila are cancelled, I believe that the Chinese-Filipino community can still celebrate the Chinese New Year’s Eve and then the Chinese New Year’s day itself within the safe confines of their respective homes with the same amount of fervor.
Again, I join them in celebrating this special day and wish that our Chinese-Filipino brothers and sisters will continue to be an integral part of shaping the country’s rich history and progress.
Our high esteem for the Chinoys is what drove me, shortly after I assumed the mayorship in Manila, into personally tearing down a makeshift barangay hall extension which was built at the very site where the statue of Roman Ongpin stands during the previous administration. The said monument, which became an “icon of shame” for years before I became mayor, greets visitors to the famed Chinatown district in Manila. It was built through the efforts of then barangay chairman Gerie Chua, in honor of Ongpin, to whom Chinoys look up to for his role in Philippine history.
Restoring the monument to its former glory is our small way of honoring Ongpin, a Filipino-Chinese businessman and philanthropist who was known for having aided Filipino revolutionaries during the Spanish and American occupation and after whom the main street in Chinatown in Binondo, Manila was named.
After we had the monument refurbished and the site where it stands totally cleaned up and spruced up, it is now an Instagrammable spot that can be seen even at night. Such a small effort compared to what Ongpin had done for the country.
Like him, the contribution made by the Chinese-Filipinos to the overall economic development of the country throughout the years is truly commendable while the values and work ethics that made our Chinoy friends dominate major corporations in the country is worthy of emulation.
To our dear Chinese-Filipino brothers and sisters, Kiong Hee Huat Chai!!!
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.’