“Dito sa Maynila, walang iniiwan. Lahat kasama, lahat mahalaga.”
This, according to Mayor Honey Lacuna, is the principle that had guided and will continue to guide her administration, stressing the strength and purpose of her office lies with the people of Manila.
In her first state of the city address (SOCA) delivered at the session hall, Lacuna enumerated the gains achieved during her first year in office and thanked those who helped her achieve them, namely her co-workers in the local government unit led by Vice Mayor Yul Servo and City Administrator Bernie Ang, the members of the Manila City Council, the six Manila Congressmen among them Rep. Joel Chua whom she thanked for mounting projects that benefit the needy residents of Manila’s third district and the Manilans themselves, all of whom she cited for their unwavering help, cooperation and support.
Among others, the first lady mayor of Manila took pride of the awards and recognitions received by the city government as it excelled in the aspect of tourism, education, health, environment, finance and business.
She reported that her administration was able to deliver to its senior citizens numbering about 180,000, their updated monthly allowances, birthday cakes, senior food supplies, weekly free entrance to Manila Zoo and monthly allocation of medicines from the city’s 44 health centers.
Around 20,000 students from the city-run Universidad de Manila and Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila were given their monthly allowance of P1,000 each while more than 4,000 students from elementary and high school were also given financial aid through the city’s educational assistance program, along with over 6,000 students from senior high from public schools, apart from the provision of uniforms, bags and school supplies for elementary and high school students.
The city, she said, was also able to provide more than P1 million allowance for 14,735 solo parents and about P200 million allowance for 35,000 persons with disability.
Senior citizens and PWDs were provided with job opportunities as about 3,000 jobless Manilans were also given work from the monthly job fairs being held by the city, including those conducted in “Kalinga sa Maynila”, Trabado, Tupad, GIP and SPES programs, even as over P3 million in capital assistance was also given to thousands of Manilans.
According to Lacuna, she also considers as the realization of her vision to ensure that each and every Manilan is served and given access to basic services, the launching of her “Kalinga sa Maynila (Pulong-Pulong sa Pagtulong)” where the said services are brought straight to the communities through her weekly or twice a week fora.
“Sa pakikipag-usap sa ating kababayan, layon ang direktang pagdulog ng tao sa pamahalaan. Nagsisilbi itong daan upang maiparating nila ang kanilang mga obserbasyon, suhestiyon, hinaing at reklamo kung meron man,” the mayor said of her ‘Kalinga’ program, adding that in each forum, there are help desks representing various city offices that assist the residents.
“Ito ang nagbibigay pagkakataon na lahat ay mapaglingkuran ng iba’t-ibang tanggapan ng pamahalaang-lokal… isang mahusay na paraan upang agad-agad ay matugunan at maibigay ang mga pangangailangan ng mga tao doon mismo sa kanilang pamayanan.. upang ipadama ang katuparan ng pangako na ihatid ang serbisyo diretso sa tao,” she said.
She expressed her gratitude to all those who have helped her mount the ‘Kalinga’ program and to the residents who continuously support and believe in her, as she vowed more programs in the coming years that will redound to the benefit of the most needy sectors of the city.
