Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada on Thursday brushed aside the coalition of two former mayors—Alfredo Lim and Lito Atienza—saying he was confident he would win another term in office as he promised to create more projects for the next three years to make the city glorious again.
Estrada said his rivals are now in a panic mode as seen by their hastily-formed alliances and dropping of original allies in a desperate effort to bring him down.
“They are panicking as indicated by the fact that they are changing alliances. That shows I am the stronger contender,” said Estrada.
Lim has abandoned his original running mate, Manila 1st District Rep. Benjamin Asilo, in favor of Atienza’s son Ali as his new vice mayoralty partner.
On Thursday, Estrada and the entire ticket of the Partido ng Masang Pilipino led by his running mate Honey Lacuna held their grand miting de avance at Moriones Street in Tondo, the place where he was born.
His goddaughter presidential aspirant Senator Grace Poe and some candidates for senators were expected to attend the event.
Estrada also asked for the solid support of 970,000 city residents to vote for Poe, whom he has described as the country’s “next president.”
Just like her father, the late actor Fernando Poe Jr., Estrada believes Poe would take care of the poor and the oppressed should she become the next president.
In his first year in office in 2013, Estrada was met by a P5.5-billion debt left by the previous administration. Using his vast experience in fiscal administration, he successfully paid the financial obligations of the city.
With the debts already settled by 2014, the city government started to have sufficient funds to implement much-needed programs and projects, including the P500-million modernization of the six public hospitals and 59 health centers of Manila.
The city’s revenue also increased from P6.6 billion in 2012 to P7.2 billion in 2013 and to P9.2 billion in 2014. By 2015, the city has built up a General Fund of P5 billion.
Estrada allotted P1.9 billion for crime prevention program, which included P136 million in payment for the back allowances of Manila Police District members and the procurement of 41 new mobile patrol cars and 110 electric personal transporters.
These resulted to the improvement of MPD’s crime solution efficiency from 24.55 percent in 2013-2014 to 38.05 percent in 2014-2015.
In infrastructure, 133 projects worth P7.4 billion were completed. On the other hand, Estrada allocated almost P1 billion for disaster preparedness program, dramatically improving the city’s emergency response capabilities.