MAYOR Joseph Estrada received another three-year term after he won the mayoralty race in Manila with 283,149 votes, defeating his rivals Alfredo Lim who received 280,464 votes and Rep. Amado Bagatsing who received 167,829 votes.
Estrada’s proclamation at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum took place despite the delay in the canvassing of the votes due to technical difficulties.
The Commission on Elections also proclaimed Estrada’s running mate Honey Lacuna as the winning candidate in the vice mayoralty race.
“A simple thank you is not enough. In this election, the true winner is you [residents] and our beloved City of Manila,” Estrada said in a statement.
Estrada said he was elated to have been given another opportunity to serve, adding Manila’s residents never gave up on him during his first months in office in 2013 when he was instituting reforms in the city.
By giving him another three years in office, he said, Manila’s residents only proved that “they love themselves, their families and their beloved city.”
He promised to come up with more programs and services now that the city government had more than enough funds.
In his first year in office in 2013, Estrada was met by a P5.5-billion debt left by the previous administration, but he successfully paid the city’s financial obligations.
After the debts were settled in 2014, the city government started to have enough 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 had built up a General Fund of P5 billion.
Estrada allotted P1.9 billion for his crime prevention program that included P136 million in back allowances of the members of the Manila Police District and the procurement of 41 new mobile patrol cars and 110 electric personal transporters.
All that resulted in the improvement of the MPD’s crime solution efficiency from 24.55 percent in 2013-2014 to 38.05 percent in 2014-2015.
Estrada also completed 133 infrastructure projects worth P7.4 billion and allocated almost P1 billion for his disaster preparedness program.
He implemented social welfare programs for the poor residents and increased the budgets of 897 villages to enable them to finance development projects.
Before his stint in Manila, Estrada served as San Juan mayor, senator and vice president. He was also elected President in 1998, but allegations of corruption triggered an impeachment trial that forced him to resign following a People Power revolt.