Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto welcomed 2025 with his signature humor, once again amusing and leaving netizens laughing with his comic flair in a YouTube video, where he personally executed a “manual transition” by slowly moving himself out of the frame while presenting the top 10 highlights of the city in 2024.
The mayor shared that 2024 was a breakthrough year for the city, noting that it was challenging to select only ten highlights due to the numerous remarkable achievements and events the city recorded.
“Bago natin salubungin at harapin ang mga bagong hamon ng 2025, ay balikan muna natin ang nakaraang taon. 2024, para sa atin sa Lungsod ng Pasig, ay masasabi natin na year of breakthrough, talaga namang ang dami nating napagtagumpayan, ang daming nangyaring maganda (Before we welcome and face the new challenges of 2025, let us first look back at the past year. For us in Pasig City, 2024 was truly a year of breakthrough, a year filled with successes and countless positive milestones),” Sotto said.
Among the comments from netizens were: “Literal na manual exit (Literally a manual exit),” “Ang cute ng manual transition (The manual transition is so cute),” “New year, new outro! Happy New Year, Mayor," “Baka naman may gusto sa inyo mga volunteer maging video editor ni Mayor Vico (Maybe some of you would like to volunteer as Mayor Vico's video editor),” and “Ang havey yung si mayor na nag-adjust para sa happy new year effects sa huli (It was funny that mayor had to adjust to the Happy New Year effects at the end).”
Apart from his manual transition outro, netizens were also delighted when he literally presented the 10 highlights in no particular order, starting with number eight instead of the typical countdown from 10 to one.
Some of the topics he tackled in his YouTube video, titled 'Mayor Vico Sotto | Pasig City | TOP 10 HIGHLIGHTS FOR 2024,' included the following:
Milestones in Human Resources (Mass Regularization Program): The first-ever increase in regular or permanent employees, as reforms have led to more stability.
In 2018, only 14 percent of employees were regular; now, 56 percent are permanent. Job order employees have been promoted to casual status, and casual employees are now permanent, ensuring job security and a more stable, continuous government service.
Progress sa Pabahay: Pasig's progress in housing and land projects, with Sotto mentioning that two vertical housing projects have begun, and construction is underway in Barangay Santolan for those affected by the revetment wall.
He also highlighted some horizontal housing projects, including land programs, and noted that long-standing land issues, some of which have persisted for decades, have been addressed since 2019.
Sotto added that the City Council recently passed the local Community Mortgage Program (CMP) ordinance, with funding coming from the local government. He emphasized that residents will now deal directly with the local government, and there are no longer any barriers for them to own the land their homes stand on.
Major renovation of Pasig City Children's Hospital (PCCH) and conversion to General Hospital: The conversion of PCCH into a general hospital, now called Pasig City Hope Medical Center.
The mayor mentioned that this includes major renovations to expand services, such as a larger emergency room and additional medical, surgical, and OB services.
Distribution of Go Bags to All Families: As part of the city's disaster preparedness efforts, emergency go bags are being distributed to every Pasigueño family.
Sotto shared that the contents of the bag, valued at less than P1,000, include a thermal blanket, emergency light sticks, a hand-pressing flashlight, an emergency booklet, bandages, medical tape, and more.
Similar to the Christmas gift-giving program, he emphasized that this demonstrates government service is not just for a select few. He added that it’s possible to provide services that don’t depend on who holds power or the leader of an organization, but are intended for everyone.