Manila City Administrator Bernie Ang expressed hope that the efforts of former First Lady Imelda Marcos in promoting the Manila Chinatown as a must-see destination for foreign tourists will be replicated by the current administration, as he also announced that there will be no liquor ban during the Chinese New Year celebration.
Speaking at the ‘Balitaan sa Harbor View’ of the Manila City Hall Reporters’ Association (MACHRA), Ang also said that although the Chinatown activities relative to the Chinese New Year’s eve countdown, the New Year’s Day itself and the 430th anniversary of the Manila Chinatown are expected to draw at least a million participants and spectators, there will be no specific restrictions like the ones imposed during the ‘Traslacion,’ since the affair is considered as an individual activity where the people would come and go. Manila Chinatown Development Council executive director Willord Chua and Manila Chinatown Barangay Organization president barangay chairman Jefferson Lau also guested in the forum.
Ang said that the city government of Manila has already requested the Manila Police District (MPD) to provide full security for the Chinatown area from February 8 to 11, 2024 as crowds go thicker by the day leading up to February 10, when the surge is expected to peak, beginning on February 9.
It was learned from Chua that different activities will be carried out simultaneously in various parts of Chinatown, highlighted by the holding of a Chinese cultural show at the Plaza San Lorenzo Ruiz.
For his part, Lau said that since Mayor Honey Lacuna kicked off the Chinese New Year activities with the lighting of the huge ‘Money Tree’ at the said plaza, crowds have not stopped flocking to see the tree for themselves, so much so that traffic remains heavy even at night.
Meantime, Ang recounted that during the time when First Lady Marcos was governor of the Metro Manila Commission, she has issued an order making it compulsory for tourists to visit the Chinatown area in Binondo, in an effort to promote the place as a top tourist destination.
Ang said that similarly, Lacuna has also been exerting efforts to beautify the Chinatown area in an effort to attract more visitors and thus create more job opportunities.
Citing records from the tourism department, Ang said that each tourist spends at least $1,000 and that each $1,000 creates two employments, be they direct or indirect.
“Imagine if we have more tourists, then we’ll have more jobs and income for the city,” he said.
According to Ang, it was also the former First Lady who originally created the Manila Chinatown Development Council which was only revived by the local government.
Meanwhile, the order of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr. declaring February 10 a holiday is being welcomed not only by the Chinese-Filipino community but the entire city as well, as this will give them free time to join the celebrations in Binondo.
He said that this year’s celebration will be more spectacular and the Chinese New Year revelry will be more significant as the country ushers the entry of the ‘Year of the Wooden Dragon,’ saying the dragon is the highest -ranked among the 12 zodiac signs.
The activities lined up, he said, will culminate in the Chinatown anniversary on March 29, 2024.
