Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna on Monday, Nov. 21, said she is working hard to prove that she is not just a shadow of his predecessor, former Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko” Domagoso.
During the “Balitaan sa Harbor View” forum, Lacuna revealed that one of her biggest challenges as the chief executive is getting out of being branded as a “shadow” or puppet of Domagoso.
“Very challenging for me is ‘yung makawala sa shadow ni Mayor Isko at matanggal ang pagkakakilala bilang sunud-sunuran lang (It is very challenging for me to get out of Mayor Isko's shadow and get rid of being known as just a follower),” she said.
“Siguro ‘yung iba, hindi pa din sanay na wala na si Mayor Isko at sa aking pagliibot, in fact bago pa ako maging alkalde, naging katanungan nila sa akin kung kaya kong ipagpatuloy lahat ng projects at programang sinimulan ni Mayor Isko. Lagi kong sagot, ‘opo kaya ko’ kasi nga naging bahagi ako ng past administration at naging napakagaling na mentor po si Mayor Isko (Maybe the others are not used to Mayor Isko being gone and during my tour, in fact before I became mayor, they asked me if I could continue all the projects and programs started by Mayor Isko. I always answer, 'yes, I can' because I was part of the past administration and Mayor Isko was a very good mentor),” she added.
The local chief executive said she did not experience difficulties in her first 100 days in the office, including the transition, since she had been a very active part of the administration of Domagoso, where she served as the vice mayor and Presiding Officer of the Manila City Council.
“Siguro hindi naman kaila sa inyo na true to the essence ay naging partner ako ni Mayor Isko, hindi lang introduction sa programs and policies kundi bahagi talaga ako, so di na naging mahirap sa akin ang transition and very fortunate ako na nung malapit na iwan ni Mayor Isko ang lungsod at maging private citizen, marami siyang itinagubilin (You already know that true to the essence I became a partner of Mayor Isko, not just an introduction to the programs and policies but I was a part of them, so the transition was not difficult for me and I was very fortunate when Mayor Isko was about to leave the city to me and become a private citizen, he instructed me a lot),” Lacuna said.
Lacuna said being Manila’s first woman chief executive also became more of an advantage rather than a disadvantage to her.
Manilenos will start feeling the difference between the past and present administration in the coming months, she assured.
“Mararamdaman na po nila ‘yung pagkakaiba namin. Sa ngayon, nakikita na nila unti-unti pero sa susunod na taon, mararamdaman na nila ang tatak Honey (They will feel our difference. Right now, they can see little by little but next year, they will feel the brand of Honey).”