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Filipino basic needs, ‘priority’ – Isko

January 28, 2022 People's Tonight 593 views

IF elected president, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso on Thursday said he will address the perennial problems of poverty, hunger, unemployment, inequality, and social injustice in the country by focusing on providing the minimum basic needs of the people – housing, education, health care, and jobs – through the efficient and prudent management of government resources.

“I do believe the minimum basic needs. When we address housing, education, health care, and jobs, this will alleviate the status, ang kalalagayan ng ating bayan,” the Aksyon Demokratiko standard bearer said during the Presidential One-on-One Interviews with entertainment host Boy Abunda.

The 47-year-old presidential aspirant said one only has to look at Manila – literally look up – to see what he is talking about.

Moreno’s infrastructure projects in the Philippine capital include six vertical housing projects for informal settlers that are 15 to 20 floors high, like Tondominium and Binondominium, with some having swimming pools and fitness centers.

Then there are the three modern public school buildings being built that are 10 floors high, outfitted with around 200 airconditioned classrooms, basketball courts, gyms, and roof decks.

And the just inaugurated 10-story Bagong Ospital ng Maynila has a 384-bed capacity with 12 intensive care units (ICUs) and 20 private rooms. It also has a three-story parking building and a helipad for emergency medical evacuations.

These were all undertaken by the City Government of Manila under Moreno’s leadership to provide Manileños, especially the needy, with quality housing, education, and health care and service.

Furthermore, these projects were all achieved in a single three-year mayoral term and during a pandemic at that, generating a lot of jobs and income at a time when people greatly needed both.

Moreno said his infrastructure projects not only created direct jobs and income but also supported a host of industries, like cement, steel, quarry, and gasoline, among others, thus providing more jobs and income.

“So you must be aggressive. That is why when I said I will continue the build, build, build of President Duterte, but build more schools, build more hospitals, build more housing. Because this will generate jobs and stimulate our economy, and this creates opportunities to business and to the people,” he told Abunda.

Having said that, Moreno said his administration will ensure that infrastructure and other developments projects will be undertaken in areas where they are needed most to further accelerate the economy and bring about a more inclusive and equitable economic growth.

Besides building public schools, hospitals, and mass housing, Moreno has earlier promised to build bridges across major islands of the Philippine archipelago which will not just facilitate the exchange of goods and services but will also serve as tourism circuits and tourism highways.

He also vowed to build post-harvest facilities, build more irrigation systems and improve existing ones, and a national fiber optic backbone, among others.

To further alleviate the plight of the masses and protect industries, Moreno also vowed to work closely with Congress to reduce the taxes on two of the most basic of commodities – petroleum and electricity.

Bringing down the cost of fuel and electricity also encourages foreign investors to bring their business to the country, he said.

The Aksyon Demokratiko presidential aspirant has also enumerated a slew of solutions to other particular problems besieging the country, but for Mayor Isko, no amount of promises nor slogan can solve the nation’s ills without hard work.

“Oo nga pala, wala akong slogan. Kasi ang slogan hindi naman yan gumagamot sa problema ng tao…“Ako, sa dami ng problema, sa bilis ng problema, kailangan natin ng mga tunay na solusyon at mabilis na aksyon. That, I can do in my own little way,” said Moreno.

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