To further cement Manila’s place in the ranks of highly competitive cities in the country, Mayor Joseph Estrada has lined up more infrastructure and development projects worth billions of pesos that will be completed by 2019.
Estrada said Manila has gone a long way from being a bankrupt city in 2013 to a progressive megacity in a relatively short period of time.
“Today, Manila is recognized as the Most Competitive City in the Philippines,” Estrada said, referring to The Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index published by the National Competitiveness Council of the Philippines.
The Competitiveness Index ranks cities, municipalities and provinces of the country according to their economic dynamism, government efficiency and infrastructure. Manila bagged the top slot in 2015.
“We have gone so far since 2013: Deep in debt, no salaries for the employees. This will not happen again,” Estrada said told members of the City Development Council.
Estrada’s 2016-2019 Comprehensive Development Plan is anchored on the “ERAP-G Plan” which stands for Environment, Revival of City Landscape, Advancement of the local economy, Poverty alleviation, and Good Governance.
It is the blueprint of the Estrada administration’s focused and increased determination in working toward the “rebirth of Manila” to renew the city’s old glory and economic growth, said Dennis Lacuna of the City Planning and Development Office.
The Comprehensive Development Plan is a compilation of Estrada’s vision for the local government unit in the next three years, integrating every barangay’s needs and what projects it requires to provide programs and services to its constituents, Lacuna said.
“What we present is based on what the barangay needs and the direction the mayor wants, as well as all its members. We integrate them all,” he added.
In his first three years in office, Estrada has completed more than 150 infrastructure projects worth more than P7 billion, including 88 roads, 80 school buildings, 39 parks and playgrounds, 51 flood-control and drainage systems.