The working mayor

You know if a mayor is working, he has clearly made changes in your city. It begins by changing the mindset of his team. He announces his plans and clearly states his rules. He removes or replaces some officers and then goes to work. First on his agenda is checking the physical environment beginning in the municipal hall where he works down to each barangay hall. Then he goes around his city, even to unreachable places (niches and crevices of his city) inspecting and taking actions for the welfare of the people. He simultaneously reviews the city ordinances, policies – the law and starts to implement it correctly but wisely. He ensures the protection and safety of his constituents as he develops the city into a better place.

Clearly amongst all the newly installed mayors around the Philippines, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno a.k.a. the “wonder boy” is ahead of the race and sweeping the country like a thunderbolt. Following him is Vico Sotto a.k.a. “Robin” (as in Batman and Robin) from Pasig. Let’s hope they continue to show their might and not just drop the city like a hot potato after the first quarter. If they continue to be the dynamic duo, then they will be able to change the political landscape of the country. As they continue to empower the people, we will all become more aware of our rights as citizens and can demand better public service from our public officials.

Let’s focus on our People Asia’s top awardee for this year’s “Men Who Matter” – Mayor Isko Moreno. The first impression one gets from him is his humility and simplicity. Mayor Isko is a no frills kind of guy. He is very “makabayan” even his happiness in seeing that the people he serves are safe and are living decent lives as they stroll the beautiful streets and parks of Manila. This mayor is clearly trying to bring back the pomp and glory of Manila, the second largest city in the Philippines where most government offices including our nation’s treasures are preserved. It has an estimated population of 1.78 million.

Who is “Isko”? Francisco Moreno Domagoso is the 27th mayor of Manila. He is 44 years old. He was a former actor, a three-term councilor and a former vice mayor. He grew up running around the streets of Manila pushing carts while collecting empty bottles and old newspapers to help his father who worked in Manila North Harbor put money on the table. He was literally a Manila street boy. He grew up seeing the diversity of the people, smelling the stench of Manila, witnessing the crime and feeling the misery that life had to offer in the city. Clearly, his love for Manila is unquestionable. He pursued higher education, including short courses and programs on governance, leadership and public policy at the University of the Philippines, at the John F. Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University, and at the Said Business School of the University of Oxford to fulfill his dreams for Manila.

As the City Mayor, he is promoting open governance to stop bribery and corruption in the city. In his first week, he cleared out the vendors along Divisoria and Carriedo, and smashed the video karera machines which promotes false hope and laziness to the people of his city. He started talking about a tourism circuit that connects Intramuros to other historical sites. Aside from reviving Binondo and turning it into one of Manila’s business hubs, he also has big plans for the now defunct Pandacan oil depot. He hopes to turn it into Manila’s own Central Business District and provide Manileños stable and well-paying jobs. He calls it, “Makati sa Maynila.”

Many people have commended Isko Moreno for his actions. Senator Recto said that “Isko Moreno is the glowing ‘Exhibit A’ of the reality that many of the country’s problems can be solved without having to rewrite the constitution.” Lacson praised Isko by saying, “Leaders like him make me think about retirement.” Top urban planner and landscape architect Paulo Alcazaren said,  “Mayor Isko is doing well and doing good.” He also suggested the preservation and improvement for Manila Metropolitan Theater, the Manila riverside parks, the Escolta Esplanade, Escolta de la Reina, the Pasig Esplanade, Green Park and Ride, the Plaza del Carmen, Plaza Dilao, the University Belt, Sta. Ana Plaza and the adjoining riverside, United Nations Avenue, Plaza Ferguson, Remedios Circle, Pr5 Area, Plaza Moriones, Ocampo Pagoda, Plaza Cervantes and Moraga, Plaza Sta. Cruz, and Plaza Lorenzo Ruiz.

This super boy vows not to stop until he gets the work done. Let’s wait and pray that the people will finally see the beautiful sunset in the horizon of Manila.

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Speaking of Manila, last Friday I was invited to Claude Tayag’s Retrospective Watercolor Exhibition and the launch of his book, A Water Color Journey held at the National Museum of Fine Arts. We all know Claude Tayag as the famous Kapampangan chef but little do we know of his artistic talents particularly with watercolor. All his works were tactically arranged by the National Museum curators headed by its Director Jeremy Barns and Assistant Director Ana Labrador whom I must say have really done a good job for the National Museum. A whole room is dedicated to Claude’s work and the exhibit will last until September 22.

Floy Quintos, playwright, stage director, writer and Palanca awardee for Literature wrote such a befitting introduction to Claude Tayag’s book, A Water Color Journey. He titled it, Claude Tayag’s Constant Journey to Joy. He wrote, “Every journey starts from home, from the place where the heart lives fullest and most joyfully. The artist’s own explorations of his own culture is marked by works bursting with color, with strong and powerful shapes, a distillation of details of its artifacts and objects, its rituals and festivities. From 1985 to 1987, the artist mounted shows with a heightened sense of place and folk memory. These shows recorded journeys of a different sort. Interior journeys, recording impressions and re-interpreting folk and indigenous tradition.

The only regret is that this generation may associate Tayag more with food, than with the visual arts. But this retrospective should welcome them to partake in the bigger feast of his creations. To wander through the halls of his retrospective exhibition is to marvel at how fully realized a creative force Claude Tayag is. But it is a self-realization that comes with both simplicity, humility, and a constancy of vision.

Hopefully, the visitor comes away amazed by the lack of anguish, of deep philosophical meanings, of contrived imagery. All there is, in these halls, in these works, is as Paras-Perez wrote, the straightforward joie de vivre that Tayag’s life has been infused with. All there is here, all there should be, is Tayag’s own journey to Joy.

Truly, I came out from that exhibit proud of being a Filipino. Such are the men and women who matter in the progress of our nation.