Isko Moreno vows Manila cleanup sans fanfare

MANILA, Philippines – Shortly after taking his oath as new Manila mayor, Isko Moreno vowed initiate moves to clean up the capital city, while taking a swipe at those who appear in cleanup drives merely for publicity.

“Kapag pinag-usapan ang health, kadikit ang sanitation, at kapag nabanggit ito, ang kaagad na pumapasok sa isipan natin: Basura (When we talk of health, sanitation and trash come to mind),”  he said in his more than 40 – minute speech.

“Ipinangangako ko po sa inyo na lahat ng nanonood, andito, at nasa baba, ginagarantiyahan ko kayo, hindi ako magtatapon muna sa dagat bago ko ito  kukunin rin (I promise to everyone here that I will not dump trash so that I can pick it up later),”  he told an applauding drawing a quick applause from the audience inside the Bulwagang Katipunan at Manila City Hall.

Moreno did not elaborate and proceeded with his speech, by joking: Baka kasi antukin kayo eh.

While he did not name names, it can be recalled that in 2017, a video of outgoing Mayor Joseph Estrada drew flak after he was seen leading a Manila Bay cleanup drive where bags of trash were deliberately dumped from a nearby boat for the mayor to scoop up.

Moreno defeated Estrada in the recent midterm elections by over 100,000 votes. /gsg