Isko Moreno: ‘Bilis Kilos’ agenda in Manila doable in entire Philippines

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso

MANILA, Philippines — Aksyon Demokratiko presidential aspirant and Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso has said his “Bilis Kilos” agenda of governance in Manila is replicable in the entire Philippines.

“Nasa pandemya tayo. Ang buhay at kinabukasan ng tao ang nakasalalay. Kaya naisip ko na kung ano ang ginawa natin sa Maynila, ganun din ang gagawin natin sa buong bansa,” Moreno said in a recent radio interview.

The “Bilis Kilos” 10-Point Agenda of Governance reflects the accomplishments of Moreno as Manila mayor, which include the construction of mass housing for the poor of Baseco, Tondo and Binondo; the construction of a COVID-19 field hospital and a new Ospital ng Maynila; provision of free antigen testing and free Remdisivir and Tocilizumab for COVID patients; and the continuous delivery of relief boxes to residents.

“Kailangan maramdaman ng tao na may nagmamalasakit sa kanyang gobyerno. It’s doable. Yun pa ang maganda. Kayang-kaya siyang gawin. Di siya imposible,” Moreno said.

During the Presidentiables’ Forum hosted by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Moreno reiterated that his immediate priority would be to strengthen the country’s health system amid the pandemic, and revive small industries to create more jobs and opportunity for Filipinos.

“I will devote the first two years of my administration towards reinforcing our health system to best cope with the pandemic, looking at future possible outbreaks and be prepared for the same in any eventuality, even as we do everything to revive and rehabilitate our economy, to create more jobs, more business and more opportunity,” Moreno said

The Aksyon Demokratiko standard bearer said an “Isko Moreno government” will also focus on the minimum basic needs of the people, especially those that will improve the human development index – health, education, housing, and jobs and livelihood.

“We must build more and better health facilities while addressing problems of malnutrition and mental health. We must also improve our tech-voc courses to include the adoption of technologies of the fourth industrial revolution such as robotics, and automation and create more accurate artificial intelligence models,” Moreno said.

The 47-year-old mayor said just like in Manila, his government would support public education by providing public school students nationwide with tablets and free bandwidth, school supplies and Covid hygiene kits. Public school teachers will also be given laptops and free bandwidth connection.

“We must level up on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) program because these are the most relevant careers that will allow our people to catch up with the rest of the world,” said Moreno.

To address the perennial housing problem, he said the Moreno government will emphasize socialized housing as the new focus of the Build, Build, Build (BBB) program.

“Whenever we make housing available and affordable for the poor, we give back human dignity to every family na beneficiary ng program,” Moreno said.

“We must also build more and better health facilities, while addressing problems of malnutrition and mental health,” he added.

To further alleviate the plight of the masses and protect industries, Moreno said he will work with Congress to reduce the taxes on two of most basic of commodities – petroleum and electricity.

“While it is true that this will be a loss of substantial enough revenues for our government, it will also, at the same time, alleviate the sufferings of our people. It will also increase their purchasing power which will stimulate consumer spending, and thus, the velocity of money will turn around once more,” Moreno explained.