PROYEKTONG galing sa sariling sikap, hindi sa utang. Kalinga sa Maynila, tuloy-tuloy na.
This was how Mayor Honey Lacuna described the new and modern ten-storey ‘Kalinga Center,’ a one-stop-shop center of basic City Hall social services which she broke ground in Paco, Manila, joined by Vice Mayor Yul Servo and Congressman Irwin Tieng, whom she lauded for again pledging support for the project by providing lighting, among others.
In her message, Lacuna said that all the services being offered in her weekly and sometimes even bi-weekly ‘Kalinga sa Maynila’ will be provided in the said center.
The mayor’s ‘Kalinga’ program goes to barangays in an effort to bring to the communities all the various services that they usually seek from City Hall. In each forum, she brings along all the heads of the different offices, bureaus and departments to address right away queries, complaints, suggestions and requests from the residents who no longer have to go all the way to the City Hall to get what they need.
Apart from that, stalls are put outside by each of the said offices concerned also to entertain the residents, even as job fairs are also made available apart from free pet vaccinations, provision or renewal of IDs for senior citizens, solo parents and persons with disability along with medical needs and birth and death certificates, among others.
It was learned that the Kalinga Center has a total project cost of ₱973.3 million, with Phase 1 amounting to ₱400 million and Phase 2 to ₱573.3 million, both funded through the city budget. Phase 1 is targeted for completion by December 2025, while the bidding for Phase 2 is scheduled for February 2025.
“Ang tanong marahil ninyo ay bakit ngayon lang? Atin pong sininop muna ang pondo ng lungsod. Ang gusto ko po kasi, galing sa sariling sikap ang ang gagamiting panggastos at hindi ‘yung mangungutang pa. ‘Yan po ang mahalaga. Lahat ng gawaing panglungsod na ating ginagawa ay galing sa sariling sikap. Pupuwede naman pala Kailangan lamang nating magsinop at maayos na pangasiwaan ang pondo ng ating lungsod. ‘Yan ang lagi ninyong maaasahan sa amin,” she stressed.
She also happily announced that the weekly ‘Kalinga’ services that her administration extends to the barangays may now be availed of in the center on a daily basis.
The 10-storey building will also house the new Senior Citizens Affairs Office, a Youth Center, a Crisis Center for Women and Children, a Trabaho center, a modern public library, a Bahay ng Barangayan Center and a multipurpose convention center and a performance art theatre.
The site of the center used to be a park for skaters and as such, Lacuna announced that a skate park will also be built at the Paraiso ng Batang Maynila across the Manila Zoo, so that more enthusiasts may be accomodated in a bigger and safer place.
Lacuna said that with the center in place, all the basic social services that the residents usually need may be availed of in a more spacious area, citing the congestion in the offices in the age-old Manila City Hall.
She particularly cited the office of the senior citizens’ affairs (OSCA) which serves about 200,000 elderly citizens in the city.
