Alfredo Lim: 'No debate, just proof of service'

MANILA, Philippines — Former Manila mayor Alfredo Lim yesterday said he is not interested in joining debates since these are just a waste of time and effort on his part and would not benefit residents of Manila in any way.

“It’s easy to play with words, make promises or even lie. This is not how I intend to run my campaign,” he said.

Lim said he will campaign based on his service record and accomplishments.

He said he is not running on mere promises and has concrete proof of what he has done for the benefit of Manilans, especially the underprivileged, with the “womb-to-tomb” range of free services he introduced in 1992.

Lim served as mayor from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2007 to 2013.

Among the accomplishments Lim cited are the establishment of five public hospitals giving free treatment, hospitalization and medicine in addition to the Ospital ng Maynila so that each of Manila’s six districts have one hospital.

He also said that under his administration, the City College of Manila, now the Universidad de Manila, was established to give free education to regular students. The Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila caters to honor students from public high schools.

Lim said he built a total of 485 free day care centers, 97 new buildings for public elementary and high schools, 59 barangay health centers offering free medicine and treatment of minor illnesses, 12 lying-in clinics; 132 newly made roads; free playgrounds and sports complexes and centralized disaster evacuation centers in Tondo and Baseco.

The former mayor vowed to build more free city colleges and bring down real property taxes to their former rates.