Election 2016: Split of longtime allies heats up San Juan polls

IT MAY be one of the smallest cities in the country, but San Juan is big in political drama today: Longtime allies have turned rivals and are waging their election campaigns with a level of acrimony not seen in decades.

The Estrada-Ejercito dynasty, whose dominance began with the election of movie star Joseph “Erap” Estrada as mayor in the late 1960s, is being challenged by the Zamoras, a likewise seasoned political family.

Once partners in governance, the reelectionist mayor and the vice mayor who now wants to replace her, offered their respective plans for tackling three of the most pressing concerns affecting residents and nonresidents alike—traffic, peace and order, and informal settlers.

As part of a series leading to the May 9 elections, Inquirer Metro focuses on the local contest that will be decided by 71,225 voters and test the old order in the so-called Erap country.

GUIA G. GOMEZ, 74; incumbent mayor

On traffic: Situated at the heart of Metro Manila, San Juan shares the burden of Metro traffic congestion. Practically all national roads in our small but vibrant city are suffering from traffic woes: Ortigas, Santolan, Pinaglabanan, N. Domingo, Aurora Boulevard, F. Manalo, P. Guevarra, M. Paterno, and F. Blumentritt. Of the 24-km Edsa, we only have less than a kilometer within our boundaries, but it creates a major choke point within the city especially during school hours.
We are supportive of national government projects to address the traffic situation, like road widening, Skyway, and C3 Extension. But to do our part, and knowing that bridges, roads and Skyways are not enough, we have already consulted architect Jun Palafox who prepared a 2020 urban development master plan and it is already being implemented.

We are coordinating with Ortigas Co. to build more parking buildings at Greenhills Shopping Center so that we can permanently remove street parking surrounding the complex.

GOMEZ

We will build elevated and well-ventilated pedestrian lanes, from Edsa to Ortigas, to encourage people who frequent Greenhills to walk from the MRT to Greenhills. We are also planning to build footbridges from Greenhills parking building to OB Montessori and Club Filipino to encourage students and patrons to avail themselves of the Ortigas pay parking.

We also plan to coordinate with North Greenhills and West Greenhills subdivisions to study the possibility of building tightly secured and elevated pedestrian walkways from their subdivisions to Xavier and Immaculate Conception Academy; and coordinate with Mandaluyong City and La Salle Green Hills to discuss a solution to the Ortigas parking space problem that we both share.

On peace and order: In our humble contribution to address the problem, we conducted an Anti-Illegal Drug Summit recently. Admittedly, the summit could have been done much earlier but we trusted our vice mayor to handle the City Anti-Drug Advisory Council or CADAC and Peace and Order Council to head the efforts. But he did nothing except purchase expensive batons, tanod (village watchmen) uniforms, and other peripherals such as whistles, etc., that are no longer usable.

We have arrested several pushers and conducted raids on suspected “shabu” tiangge and big time traders. San Juan has one of the lowest crime indexes now. Our local police are supported with sufficient patrol cars, motorcycles and high-powered firearms.

The city is now equipped with adequate security cameras monitored by our City Emergency and Disaster Operational Center. We are also planning to utilize barangay officials and tanod to augment the police forces.

On informal settlers: San Juan is the only city in the country that has complied with the national government program to clear our waterways of informal settlers living in danger zones. Those families now live in their own houses  and are still being supported by the city government in their other basic needs.

San Juaneños who now live in NHA (National Housing Authority)-provided housing units in Bulacan and Rizal provinces are not left out and remain part of the extended San Juan families. We are planning to provide shuttle services to and from San Juan where most of them work. We will coordinate with the local governments that have direct jurisdiction over those communities to find ways to provide schools, churches, medical centers and additional jobs.

We have already built the first in-city public housing in the heart of San Juan, patterned after Singapore’s low-rise housing, that is now being enjoyed by more that 300 families. This belies the claim of gossips and liars that the former St. Joseph community was burned down for us to build a commercial complex.

We are now building more public housing units in Barangays Batis and Kabayanan. We are also planning to buy private lands for  housing projects within the city.

We recently signed a covenant for the people of San Juan that shall ensure a “no in-city housing-no demolition policy” that we hope shall be implemented by the future leaders of the city. We are also coordinating with officials and urban poor organizations in Corazon de Jesus, San Perfecto, Batis and other barangays with informal settlers to come up with a redevelopment plan.

ZAMORA

FRANCIS ZAMORA, 38; incumbent vice mayor, former councilor

On traffic: Problem areas are Ortigas Avenue, N. Domingo Street and Aurora Boulevard. We will work on the strict implementation of traffic rules on these streets and in the entire San Juan. The city already has a traffic code, what we need is full implementation.

We will also deploy traffic enforcers throughout the day to ensure that all motorists passing through San Juan will comply with traffic rules. “Walang palakasan at walang padrino.”

We will conduct a comprehensive study to see which streets can be made one-way. Take for example New York City where most of streets and avenues are one-way for a more orderly flow of traffic.

Existing parking regulations will also be studied to see which areas can be covered by a no-parking policy or allow alternate one-sided parking. We will look into the possibility of constructing government-owned parking facilities and encourage the private sector to build and operate its own public parking facilities as well.

We will also seek the help of the government in constructing flyovers and underpasses on these main roads and other clogged streets; implement the ordinance requiring ample parking spaces for residents, tenants and clients in newly constructed buildings.

On peace and order: We will set up a command center and city-wide CCTV system for the 24-hour monitoring of major thoroughfares and high-risk areas.

We will also use Global Positioning System (GPS) in our police patrol cars and barangay peacekeeping vehicles so we can monitor our police and security enforcers at all times and know who are closest to the area (of disturbance) for faster response. This also ensures that our police and tanod are spread out throughout the city, especially in critical areas.

We will also put up a 24-hour hotline and Internet-based call center for faster dissemination of information which may include photos and exact locations of the peace and order situation. We will develop a mobile application, free to all residents, to report crimes and illegal activities in their areas. This mobile app will be connected to the command center. It may also be used to send notifications and public announcements, like incident reports and emergencies.

We will institutionalize the provision of incentives for tipsters, and also for police personnel, tanod and enforcers who excel in their performance.

On informal settlers: We will address poverty by giving them sustainable employment through the strict implementation of a city ordinance that requires business establishments in San Juan to make sure that 50 percent of their employees are residents. There is an ordinance mandating this but it has not been fully implemented. With thousands of business establishments in the city, particularly in the Greenhills Shopping Center, the full implementation of this law will definitely provide employment for our constituents. We will also expand this ordinance to cover construction (projects) and related developments, by requiring contractors to hire skilled workers — carpenters, painters, masons — who are San Juan residents.

We will conduct city-wide training programs to empower our residents through home or community-based income-generating activities like handicraft, massage and reflexology training, soap and shampoo making, and similar livelihood opportunities. We will focus on Tesda-accredited training programs to help our constituents find employment here or abroad.

We will improve the education system in our public schools, and support each student from day care, kinder, elementary, high school, and college through an educational assistance and scholarship program. We will also build more school buildings and classrooms to meet the demand and provide additional schooling and training to our public school teachers.