Salamat, Doc Willie... for Yorme Isko!

I was surprised when Doc Willie agreed to be Yorme Isko’s vice presidential tandem because I knew he just wanted to continue helping our kababayans in his quiet way. Curious about Yorme Isko, I googled and watched him on YouTube. I had been to the new Luneta and Jones Bridge right after their rehabilitation, but as his numerous accomplishments unfolded before me, I was completely awed!

Young, energetic, oozing with ideas and plans, definite visions that are implementable, as he already has a template of what he did in Manila that improved the lives of the Manileño, he was greatly impressive. His first campaign sortie was in Batangas, where I learned many facts about him from Sen. Ralph Recto: That Yorme Isko studied in UP, Arellano U, PMI, was sent to Harvard U, Oxford U by the US and UK governments, respectively. And built the 344 air-conditioned rooms of Manila COVID field hospital in 52 days!

He can rattle off extemporaneously his ideas, plans, visions without codigos, coming as he does from his vast wealth of 23 years’ experiences in public service. He worked his way up at the very young age of 10, that is why he is adept at finding best solutions, works the hardest, fastest, thus dubbed as “bilis kilos.” No other politician works as hard, as conscientiously, as devotedly in serving his constituents with such a roster of accomplishments like Yorme Isko. He truly is a “servant” of the people in its strictest sense… the epitome of a public official!

At the height of the pandemic, he worked 24/7 in city hall, with this staff, for three months, checking and ordering the best medicines, vaccines, thinking of the best way to help his constituents. No wonder, only Manila was the LGU with the best medicines and vaccines he made available to all Filipinos.

Yorme Isko was the only presidential candidate chosen to be among “People of the Year Awardees” and one of the “Exceptional Men and Women of 2022” for his exemplary performance and accomplishments in Manila in just over two years, as listed below:

• Clearing and cleaning of sidewalks in Divisoria,

• Jobs for senior citizens and PWDs, monthly allowances for senior citizens, PWDs, university and K12 students;

• Built the 344 rooms Manila COVID-19 field hospital;

• Put up a dialysis center in Sta. Ana hospital;

• Acquired world-class medical equipment;

• Built six condominium buildings for 10,000 families, 42 sq. meters, two bedrooms each, with elevators, pool, kabuhayan lounge;

• Modern public schools complete with elevators, library, gym, cafeteria, auditorium;

• Lighting of the streets and installation of solar road stud;

• Redeveloped Jones Bridge, the Hidden Garden of Manila, the Kartilya ng Katipunan, Arroceros Forest Park, Moriones Park;

• Cleaned, painted and made Lagusnilad underpass well-lighted and safe;

• Provided food security program for six months for the Manilenos;

• Gave laptop for 10,000 teachers;

• Provided 110,000 tablets for students with free WiFi;

• Gave 100 vending stalls for sidewalk vendors;

• Rebuilt Ospital ng Maynila into a world-class category, complete with helipad, open to all Filipinos;

• Modernized the Manila clock tower into a tourist spot;

• Built Manila Muslim cemetery, after 500 years, for our Muslim brothers and sisters to help bury their dead faster, without airlifting them to their respective provinces, and make them feel they are a part of Manila;

• Extended general tax amnesty to help businesses affected by the pandemic;

• Built a Business One Stop Shop (BOSS) to make it easy for businessmen to do business in Manila.

During the pandemic, Yorme Isko did the following:

• Built Manila COVID-19 vaccine storage facility;

• Put up Manila infectious disease control center;

• Built a quarantine facility with 883 bed capacity;

• Put up RT-PCR molecular laboratory in Sta. Ana hospital;

• Provided mass swab testing and vaccination in 27 vaccine sites and in Quirino grandstand, 24/7 vaccination of the people’s choice of vaccines;

• Gave COVID-19 supplemental kit to senior citizens;

• Provided COVID-19 hazard pay to the frontliners, health workers;

• Manila was first to procure Remdesivir, Tocilizumab, Bexovid, 85 percent effective in preventing hospitalization from COVID.

In Yorme Isko’s personal capacity, he donated his endorsement/talent fees of about P100 million to PGH, cancer-stricken children, other charities and to provinces hit by natural calamities like Batangas, Taal, North Cotabato, Cebu City.

Not yet a mayor, Yorme Isko helped 20 kids needing liver transplant by giving each of them P2 million, and continued to do so for those needing medical attention even after surgery, without fanfare. These surfaced only during this presidential campaign.

Yorme Isko’s humility, genuine liking for people, his intense determination to help uplift people’s lives… come very naturally for him, like second nature, not fake. Willingly, smilingly, he obliges for selfies at all times. As Sen. Ralph Recto, Mayor Lino Cayetano, Cong. P.J. Garcia attested to, we must not let go of Yorme Isko for this is the first time that we have a government servant like him!

As for me, I belong to the vast “silent majority” who pray that Bilis Kilos Yorme Isko will be catapulted to the presidency that he truly most deserves and is most badly needed by the Filipinos.