MAYOR Isko Moreno Domagoso and the rest of the Aksyon Demokratiko slate held their “miting de avance” at 4:00 p.m. Saturday at the Moriones Linear Park in Tondo in what will be both a show of gratitude and a celebration of life, hope and courage.

Moreno has said earlier that the choice of venue was his way of showing gratitude to neighbors, friends, and residents in the area where he started his journey as a public servant.

“Utang ng loob ko sa mga taga-Tondo kung nasaan man ako sa mundo ng public service. Doon ako nagsimula, doon ko tatapusin yung laban. I started there (as a councilor) and I’ll end (my presidential campaign) there,” he told reporters Wednesday in Mambaling, Cebu City.

But the choice of venue for the miting de avance also holds a deeper meaning, for it is also a celebration of Moreno’s life journey, of hope for a better future, and of courage to overcome life’s adversities.

Moreno started life as a poor boy born in the slums of Tondo, Manila, from his stevedore father, Joaquin Domagoso, who came from Antique province, and a “labandera” mother Rosario Moreno, who came from Maasin town in Leyte province.

At age 10, he found alternative sources of income to help his family by scavenging for old newspapers and used bottles.

Later on, he drove a pedicab and rummaged through restaurant garbage bins for “pagpag” (leftover food), which his mother would recook for dinner.

He experienced the discrimination and the inequalities bestowed upon the poor, but through all this deprivation, Moreno said he did not once lose his faith in God.

“Sa kalagitnaan ng paghihikahos, nang matinding gutom, na malakas pa ang hilab ng iyong tiyan kesa sa aking dasal, ni minsan hindi ako nagtampo sa Diyos, hindi ko sya minura, hindi ko sya tinalikuran, at ang kanyang mga alagad hindi ko inalipusta, sapagkat ‘di natitinag ang paniniwala ko sa Poong Maykapal na susuklian ang iyong pagsisikap ng mga biyayang ninanais mo,” he said.

And as fate would have it, Moreno became an actor, the youngest city councilor in 1998, the youngest vice mayor in 2007, and the youngest Manila mayor in 2019.

While in public office, he pursued higher studies, earning a degree in Business Administration degree at the International Academy of Management and Economics (IAME); two years of law school at the Arellano University; a Master’s degree in Public Administration at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM), and Local Legislation and Local Finance at the University of the Philippines (UP).

Moreno also has post-graduate studies at Harvard University under the Executive Education Program, Strategic leadership program at Oxford University.

This is the message that he always strives to drive wherever the campaign takes him, that any person can go to great lengths in life for as long as they never lose hope, work hard and have faith in God.

“Nangyari sa akin, puwede na rin mangyari sa anak ninyo. Kahit anak ng mahirap, basta nagsikap at nagpursige ang magulang, yung bata nagsikap, may mararating sa buhay, Habang may buhay, may pag-asa. Kaya huwag kayong susuko sa buhay,” Moreno said.

And it is also this vision that drove Moreno to seek the presidency, to give the ordinary people like him the equal opportunity to better their lives and their children under a fair and honest government.

“Hindi matayog na ambisyon ang nagtulak sa aking desisyon, ngunit ng dahil sa kalunos-lunos na kundisyon ng ating bayan,” he said.

If elected president, Moreno has vowed to pursue a “Life and Livelihood” economic policy that aims to address poverty, hunger, unemployment, inequality and social injustice through the effective, efficient and prudent management of government resources under an open, transparent and inclusive administration, as spelled out under his 10-point “Bilis Kilos” Economic Agenda.

To achieve this, Moreno’s administration will focus on building more public housing like Tondominium and Binondominium; more public schools like the new Manila Science High School; and more public hospitals like the Bagong Ospital ng Maynila. These infrastructure projects will, in turn, create more jobs and opportunities for Filipinos.

Besides providing the minimum basic needs of the people, Moreno also vowed an accelerated infrastructure program that will be focused on areas or provinces with low human development index to bring about a more inclusive economic growth.

“Sa awa ng Diyos, sa tulong ninyo, simpleng gobyerno lang ang ibibigay ko. Ang gagawin ko lang murang bilihin, murang kuryente, murang krudo, trabaho, pabahay, eskuwelahan, ospital, tapos na ang usapan. Tao lang, sa tao lang, sa tao lamang,” he said.

“Mararamdaman ninyo, na araw-araw, ‘pag mararanasan ninyo na kayo’y matutumba na, makakakita kayo ng pader na ang tawag ay gobyerno na masasandalan ninyo sa oras na kailangan ninyo. Yan ang gobyernong ibibigay ko sa inyo,” Moreno said.

And this vision and aspiration for a better future for every Filipino all started in the slums of Tondo, where a destitute young boy dreamed of rising up from poverty, worked hard to achieve it and is now dreaming even more to change the lives of the masses who have started life like him.

Life, hope, courage, and absolute faith in God. This is Mayor Isko’s “miting de avance”.