Manila mayoral bets reveal differing views in ‘trash talk’

LIM. JOAN BONDOC

A rift over the awarding of a garbage collection contract led to the breakup of their alliance years ago. Today, how do the two rivals for the mayoralty in Manila plan to solve the city’s stinking problem?

Incumbent Mayor Alfredo Lim maintains that cleaning up the esteros or canals, for example, is mainly the job of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

His lone challenger, former President Joseph Estrada, on the other hand, said he would consult waste management experts and impose order on the colonies of informal settlers along Pasig River and its tributaries.

“The streets, the drainage systems and the esteros are being cleaned. Who’s doing it? MMDA. In case you don’t know, the esteros, Pasig River and Manila Bay are national government property,” Lim, 83, told reporters on the sidelines of his proclamation rally last week.

In a media forum on Monday, Estrada said: “I don’t profess that I know everything, that’s why I asked the help of University of the Philippines professors to make a study on what should be the priority.”

“Being an executive of a town, city or province, you must have a commitment, you must prioritize projects. Like in the case of the esteros that cause flooding in Manila, it should be one of the top priorities,” said the 75-year-old Estrada, who entered politics in the 1960s as mayor of what was then the municipality of San Juan.

“We will do a thorough study on how to clean the esteros. First of all, we need to put the informal settlers in order. The esteros must be dredged to add more depth,” he added. “We have experts on this and it should be done professionally and with a vision. A leader should have a vision or else everything will be stagnant.”

Estrada and Lim were political allies during the former’s short-lived presidency, but a rift reportedly developed between the two men over the awarding of the city’s garbage collection contract.

ESTRADA. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

Estrada has admitted in a TV interview that he recommended a friend to be given the contract. Reminded of this, Lim said he told Estrada’s friend to go through the bidding process.

In earlier Inquirer interviews, Lim conceded that Manila had become a dirty city “to a certain extent.” This unflattering image, he said , once prompted him to tell the different barangay leaders during a meeting that “they were not doing their job.”

But Lim also reported that the national government already had plans to relocate the informal settlers, with President Aquino releasing P10 billion for an “in-city or near-city” housing program.

MORENO. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

In February, Lim and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas led the groundbreaking rites for the pilot medium-rise housing project along Estero de San Miguel.

Lim also maintained that the MMDA was created to tackle the problems of traffic, garbage, flooding and squatters, and that 5 percent of the total annual budget of Metro Manila’s 17 local government units goes to the agency.

“We’re not shirking responsibility, but money goes there. That’s about P350 million a year. With that kind of money, how many street sweepers and garbage collectors can you hire?” Lim said.

He said he had asked the MMDA to deploy about 100 more street sweepers in Manila, while ordering local officials to strictly implement the city’s antilittering ordinance.