… but still stuck with vagrants, trash

On the day Manila started upgrading its public parking system, the city continues to struggle with old problems in the streets: Trash and vagrants.

Mayor Alfredo Lim on Friday ordered the police to round up homeless persons sleeping in parks, noting that they turn off tourists.

“Sleeping in parks is prohibited because it reduces the enthusiasm of the people who go to parks for enjoyment. Regular park-goers tend to shy away when they see people sleeping in the area wearing only shorts and undershirt,” Lim told reporters at the launch of the country’s first metered parking system at Plaza Lorenzo Ruiz in Binondo. (See related story on this page.)

The vagrants will be turned over to the city social welfare department. If they are from the provinces and without families to take them in Metro Manila, the city government will shoulder their transportation back to their hometowns, Lim said.

The mayor said National Parks and Development Council Executive Director Juliet Villegas and Intramuros Administration head Jose Capistrano, who graced the launch, had pledged to help spruce up Plaza Lorenzo Ruiz to make it at par with the more famous Rizal Park.

Lim also reported that in a command conference the previous day, he ordered precinct commanders of the Manila Police District to intensify clearing operations on plazas, sidewalks and streets and help maintain cleanliness by enforcing the city ordinance against improper waste disposal.

The city government has begun implementing a new waste disposal schedule wherein residents can take out their household trash for collection only from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Erika Sauler