To welcome a brighter 2017, Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada said Monday he is putting up more than 4,500 lampposts in the capital’s streets starting this January.
Estrada said he will continue his street-lighting program in 2017 to light up the entire city, from major thoroughfares to barangay streets, as an anti-crime measure during nighttime to continue his urban renewal and beautification program for the capital.
“While I am mayor of Manila, lighting will continue in the city. This is what I promised to the Manileños: to ensure their safety at night and to revive the old glory of Manila, and for a brighter 2017,” he said.
With the city back on its feet financially after incurring a P5.5-billion debt during the past administration, Estrada said his planned projects in Manila will go “full blast” for 2017, as he doubled the funds for the streetlighting program.
Manila is budgeting P300 million to install 4,500 street lights on 156 more streets next year, said engineer Lorenzo Alconera, chief of the City Electrical Division.
For 2016, Alconera said they will install new lamp posts along 107 streets, including Capulong, Laong Laan, and Dela Fuente to Magsaysay.
“This is what our Mayor Estrada wants, that all will be lit. We are just prioritizing the critical areas,” he added.
Estrada recently led the ceremonial switching of 41 newly installed street lights worth P2.3 million along Paz Street in Paco. The city also put up 84 lamp posts along the stretch of F. Manalo in Sta. Ana amounting to P4.8 million.
The city government has so far installed new lampposts along a total of 91.1 kilometers of streets worth over P100 million. These include major roads such as Dapitan, Moriones, Del Pilar, Mabini, Pedro Gil, Onyx, and Oroquieta, and portions of Roxas Boulevard, Taft Avenue, Vito Cruz, United Nations Avenue, and Quirino Avenue.
In 2015, Estrada allocated P61 million for street lighting and P128 million in 2016. Close to 2,000 LED lampposts have so far been installed throughout Manila.