Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno personally went to Lagusnilad Underpass located near the City Hall to check the cleaning operation conducted by his team.

The said underpass is known for being dirty and infested by illegal vendors who used the said place to operate their businesses and even stored their personal belongings.

The former look of Lagusnilad underpass Photo: https://janpalanas.wordpress.com

Moreno was disappointed to see the poor condition of the underpass which the only safest way for the people to cross Lawton from Intramuros to the City Hall Area.

He described that the underpass has a foul smell because it was poorly maintained over the years.

While inspecting the underpass, several illegal vendors were heard pleading to the Mayor to stop confiscating their belongings.

“Binoto namin kayo Mayor… ano ba ito sana ay sinabihan kami ng maayos,” the vendors told Moreno.

However, the Mayor argued that they are not allowed to place their businesses in the underpass.

“Para ho sa inyo ito at hindi para sa kanila [illegal vendors], kayo ang dapat nandito.. ang taumbayan,” the Mayor told the crowd.

The Mayor asked the commuters to be a little bit patient because the cleanup operation caused traffic.

He blamed the so-called ‘organizers’ for letting the illegal vendors operate in the underpass.

“Ito ay sa taumbayan na muli… ang City Hall underpass… it’s for everybody, not for me, not for General Danao but everybody should use this,” he said.

After the cleanup, netizens were amazed by the instant transformation happened in the underpass.

Lagusnilad Underpass which is known for being narrow and full of illegal vendors is now clean and more passable.

Moreno said that he would order to renovate the said underpass.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed a law giving 20 percent discount to students on different kinds of transportation.

The Republic Act 11314 was signed on April 17, which provides 20% student discount for all kinds of public transportation like buses, jeepneys, taxis, tricycles, trains, marine vessels, and aircraft.

However, the law does not cover school service, tourist service, and any similar service covered by contract or charter agreement and with valid franchise or permit from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).

Students should be enrolled during those time to avail the discount. They need to present their latest student I.D or any documents that would prove that they’re enrolled in the present school year.

“A student under this Act shall be entitled to a grant of 20% discount on domestic regular fares, upon personal presentation of their duly-issued school identification cards (IDs) or current validated enrollment form, supported by the prescribed government-issued identification document, subject to an appropriate verification mechanism to be provided in the implementing rules and regulations,” the law read.

The President signed the said bill into the law to “encourage students, particularly the poor, and underprivileged, to pursue quality education to secure their future and make them responsible citizens.”

PUV owners that would refuse to give a discount to the students under the new law will face penalties including suspension of driver’s license, fines ranging from PHP1,000 to PHP15,000, and the cancelation of their certificates of public convenience.

Senator Sonny Angara who co-authored the bill expressed his happiness over the decision of the President to sign it.

“This is a year-round benefit that students can avail so they can have discounted fares whenever they want to go home to their families, even during holidays,” Angara said.

“Malaking tulong ang mga diskwento na ito para sa mga mag-aaral. Ang matitipid na pera sa pamasahe at iba pang gastusin ay maaaring gamitin ng estudyante sa ibang bagay,” he added.

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno insisted that some of the illegal vendors operating around the streets of his City are not poor people because they could afford to pay a significant amount of money to have an imaginary permit to sell from so-called ‘organizers.’

In an interview on news magazine show Kapuso Mo, Jessica Sojo (KMJS) Moreno revealed that the illegal vendors around Manila are paying more than 30,000 pesos to allow their businesses to operate even in the middle of the street.

In addition, Moreno said that the illegal vendors are required to pay 350-500 per day for “Eddie and Patty”, a slang popularized by the Mayor to refer the people receiving bribes in Manila.

“Let’s be honest, numbenta’y singko porsyento sa kanila [vendors] hindi mahirap,” Moreno said.

“Alam mo kung bakit? If they can afford to pay 30,000 pesos para sa isang maliit na lamesa for rights.. rights lang to sell… they can afford 350 pesos a day and 500 pesos a day para kay “Eddie at Patty’,” he added.

In a separate interview, Moreno also said that he was tried to bribed by P5-M a day just to allow the illegal vendors around Manila to operate.

The offer shocked Moreno, saying that P5-M a day could only be afforded if there are 100,000 vendors around Manila that would pay 50 pesos daily.

To counter the so-called ‘organizers’ Moreno urged the vendors to pay 20 pesos only to the City Government of Manila. But he clarified that they’re not allowed to sell in illegal places anymore despite paying a fee.

Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno said that he’s not complaining in his salary despite being working overtime to improve his city.

Moreno revealed his monthly salary when was featured in the popular television news magazine program Kapuso Mo Jessica Sojo (KMJS) on Sunday, July 14.

During the interview with journalist Jessica Sojo, Moreno revealed that he experienced all the hardship during his youth, including being a scavenger and a pedicab driver.

He also shared that he even tried to swim in the depts of the water to get the coins being thrown by the ship passengers at Manila Pier.

According to Moreno, because of being poor, he experienced eating dirty foods also known as “Pagpag”. It comes from the garbage from restaurants he collected and just being recooked.

That is the reason why he’s not complaining anymore about his monthly salary costs 100,000 pesos a month.

“Basura nga kinakain ko nung araw, magrereklamo pa ba ako sa isang daang libo?” Moreno told Sojo during the interview.

Moreno who was born in Tondo, Manila grew in a poor family and was discovered in 1993 by a talent scout while he’s visiting a wake.

He successfully entered politics in 1998 as a councilor for Manila’s first congressional district and also became the Vice Mayor of Manila for three consecutive terms.

In the last Mayoral election of Manila City, Moreno defeated former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada who’s already a politician even before he was born.

Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno was seen working even at midnight to check if his staffs followed his orders.

In a Facebook live video, Moreno showed to the netizens how the newly-rehabilitated Andres Bonifacio Park looks during the night.

According to Moreno, he ordered the Engineer department of Manila to beautify the said park, putting Capiz lights in the trees planted around to make the surroundings “more Filipino.”

He even talked to the people who passed by and told them about the improvements in the park.

“Inumaga na kayo.. wala ng t*e,” Moreno told the people who passed by.

“Nakakalakad na ba kayo ng maayos?” the Mayor asked.

The Mayor was glad when the people told him that they’re now confident to walk around the park even at night because of lights that made the place brighter.

When they congratulated the Mayor on making the cleanup operations successful, Moreno clarified that they should thank the employees of the City of Manila instead because they are the ones who work for it.

The Mayor also explored the other parts of the park, saying that people could now hold a date there.

Despite discovering trash during the inspection, Moreno said that they will not stop in cleaning the area which became a bathroom by some people according to him for years.

He urged the visitors of the said park to keep their trash or dispose it properly so they could contribute in the efforts of the government of Manila to clean up the city.

“Hay ang hirap, sa awa naman ng Diyos.. sumaya na kayo okay na.. masaya na rin kami,” Moreno said after seeing the improvements of the park.

Several days ago, Moreno inspected the said park which only several steps away from the City hall.

He called the park before as a “gold mine” and “biggest bathroom” in Manila because of scattered human waste around the area.

Moreno also fired the PCP Commander in Lawton for not taking care of the park.

Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto faced the electoral protest filed against him by his rival in the last Mayoral election in the said city Bobby Eusebio.

Sotto asked for the service of defeated senatorial candidate Atty. Romulo Macalintal who’s also the lawyer of Vice President Leni Robredo on the electoral protest filed by former Senator Bongbong Marcos.

Macalintal asked the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to junk the protest filed by Eusebio because his client already won via big margin.

The lawyer also pointed out that the Philippines would be a laughing stock in other countries if Eusebio’s claim that the 86,500 votes gained by Sotto during the mayoral elections in Pasig is a VCM error is proven to be true.

The camp of Eusebio also claimed that Sotto won because of alleged vote-buying happened around Pasig before the election.

“Very very clear na walang basehan dahil sa ang kinukwestyon lamang nila ‘yung 81 vote-counting machines sa 81 clustered precincts and it only involves about 50,000 voters,” Macalintal said.

“Imagine, it [Eusebio’s claim] would mean Comelec committed an error for the 86,500 votes. That is a big anomaly, which makes the Philippines a laughing stock in other countries,” he added.

Sotto said that Eusebio are only trying to intimidate him, but he would still respect the process.

“Basta ang alam ko malinaw ang tinig ng mga Pasigeño. Alam naman nila ‘yun, kahit ‘yung nag-file ng kaso alam naman nila ‘yun,” Sotto said.

The young Mayor ended the 27-year political domination of the Eusebio family in Pasig City last election.

Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto attends the preliminary conference of the dismissal case filed against the electoral protest of former mayor Bobby Eusebio on Thursday. (Video by Jesse Bustos/The Philippine STAR) pic.twitter.com/rhFesoaYrF

— The Philippine Star (@PhilippineStar) July 11, 2019

The City of Manila is looking at the possibility of buying the garbages from its residents to encourage the Manilenos to clean their surroundings.

Mayor Isko Moreno bared his future program “Pagkain sa Basura” that would give people food if they’re going to surrender enough garbages to the City government of Manila.

In a past interview, Moreno said that one of the biggest problems of Manila is its dirty environment and it already affected the health of many people living in his city.

“Napansin nyo po ang Maynila, dugyot? Alin yung dugyot? Yung may libag, banil, yung hindi natatanggal na libag,” Moreno said.

Pagkain sa Basura program is one of his ideas to lessen the garbages in Manila and helping the people at the same time.

“Pagtapos naming kolektahin ang mga basura ninyo —be it plastic, papel, karton, aluminum, bote — bibilhin yan ng City of Manila,” Moreno said.

“Susumahin yan at bibigyan namin kayo ng card o coupon. ‘Yung coupon, may points. ‘Yung points may katumbas na pagkain,” he added.

Moreno said that they’re going to give coupons in exchange for the garbages and the residents need to present it to the nearest “Kadiwa Store” so they could claim their food.

He’s also planning to give rewards to the cleanest barangays.

“I will clean Manila. I will see to it that this is done as soon as I assume office. The city is the face of the country. Whatever happens here reflects on the whole country,” Moreno said.

Moreno is a former scavenger, collecting garbage around the streets of Manila during his younger days to earn some money.

The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) also supported the plan of Isko, saying that they’re going to cooperate with the Mayor to make his program successful.

“Kami ay makikipagtulungan kay Isko Moreno para sa Maynila kung ano ang problema ng basura dito ay walang dahilan kung bakit hindi iyan maa-address kung tayo’y makikipatulungan sa mayor,” MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim said.

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno transformed Andres Bonifacio park to a clean heritage site several days after he stepped on a human waste while inspecting the said place.

On Saturday, Moreno announced the successful cleanup operation along Andres Bonifacio Park after it became a cesspool because some animals and people used the said place as their “bathroom”.

“Nakakatuwang isipin na muling naibalik sa taong bayan ang park natin mga #BatangMaynila , malinis , mabango , maayos para sa mamayan. Ang hinihingi ko lang po na sana makiisa kayo sa pagsasaayos at kalinisin nito. Salamat po sa inyong lahat. Enjoy!!!” Moreno said in his post.

It was shown to the photos that the people can now hand around the park without suffering from foul smell came from the human waste scattered before around Andres Bonifacio’s monument.

He also showed some other parts of the park to prove that he’s not joking on his mission to clean the whole place which only steps away from the Manila City Hall.

As a result, Moreno has been praised again by the netizens who were amazed by the political will of the new Manila City Mayor.

Moreno shared during his inspection on July 10 that the park can be seen thru the windows of the Mayor’s office.

Because of seeing the poor condition of the park, Moreno ordered the removal of the PCP head of Lawton and he also asked the illegal vendors to stop operating their businesses along the monument.

The incident even became viral on social media after the Mayor itself stepped on a human waste despite being careful.

“Ayan minahan oh, madaming ginto. Dito pala tinago ng katipunan ang ginto,” he said during the inspection.

Senator Imee Marcos said that the Philippines should cut its relation with Iceland after the European country pushed the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) to investigate the Duterte administration over alleged EJKs.

According to Marcos, Iceland doesn’t have the right to lecture the Philippines about human rights when their countries are legalizing abortion and removing the right of the unborn child to survive.

“We are an independent country enforcing its own drug laws to eradicate its own war against the pernicious drug trade,” the senator said in a statement.

“How can these countries point a finger at the Philippines when many of them have legalized abortion and have ignored the right to life of unborn children?” she added.

Voting 18-14 with 15 abstentions, the UN human rights council narrowly approved Thursday a two-page resolution filed by Iceland.

Meanwhile, the Philippines also rejected the decision of the UNHRC saying that countries who voted in favor of the said resolution would face consequences.
“We will not accept a politically partisan and one-sided resolution, so detached from the truth on the ground,” Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin said.

A netizen also claimed that Iceland needs the Philippines more, explaining that we are only exporting $86,000 worth of goods with our imports are around $380,000.
< “Iceland is about 10,700 km from the Philippines. With only a population of 338,000, I don’t see any significant trade with them. Their main exports are aluminum, fish fillets, fish oil, and crustaceans. This will be expensive considering freight costs. We can source cheaper from other countries in Asia,” Kitz Barja said.

“For geothermal energy? We can deal with New Zealand,” he added.