HE has been called the “total rock star,” the poster boy for good governance, and a refreshing change from traditional politicians.
Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso is all that, and, unintentional on his part, he is making most other mayors look bad.
The mayor, an actor turned politician who uses his screen name Isko Moreno, attained in less than two weeks into his term several achievements that others thought were impossible. He cleared up the streets of Divisoria and Quiapo of carts and tents of vendors, fired the incompetent who turned the city’s Andres Bonifacio monument into an open-air toilet, spoke to school heads on their plans to harness renewable energy and told the police to respect human rights in the war on illegal drugs.
His actions were in line with his campaign promises made before the May 13, 2019 elections to rid Manila of road congestion and illegal structures and to fix the chaos in the city.
He brought in action, energy and courage into being mayor of Manila City.
Moreno is raising the standard for what constituents could expect of their city mayors this early in their terms. In the process, Moreno is making obvious the inaction of those local officials in other parts of the country who have not taken a step to fulfilling election promises.
The next natural thing for city residents to do is to compare Moreno’s performance against that of their own mayors, including Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella. Cebu is not that different from Manila and is known to be next to Manila in terms of metropolis ills.
Labella outlined his solutions to the city’s problems during the campaign period. Among the proposed action steps were to tap soldiers to dredge rivers to prevent flash floods, work to have the Light Rail Transit come sooner than expected, collect the garbage and have better relations with the police to make the city peaceful and orderly.
In the first two weeks of a fresh term, officials focused on taking action on the destruction of the former mayor’s office and on having a South Road Properties locator demolish a structure, according to reports in media. It is possible media missed on the other actions taken by City Hall.
But city residents complain that road congestion is worse, chaos is back on the streets with motorcycles again counter-flowing, sidewalks are blocked, vehicles park in undesignated areas and garbage is not being collected.
After an election, there is often a honeymoon period where the newly assumed government official is given elbowroom to do what he or she wants without much interference. There is no set period for the honeymoon, but some say it could run from 100 days to six months.
Moreno, in raising the bar for local governance, is removing that honeymoon period for those mayors who have not shown an achievement two weeks into their term.
Labella should take the cue and be a Moreno for Cebu.