By Perfecto T Raymundo, Jr.
MAKATI CITY — Mara Tomondong,
a mayoral aspirant under the Kilusang Bagong Lipuan (KBL), said that she is offering herself as a responsible Manileno and to serve the Manilenos as she also would like to bring back the respect and dignity to the capital city.
In an interview by the reporters of the Metro Manila Media Collective, Tamondong said that her original political party was the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) but because it was divided into two factions which both joined other political alliances, she decided to coalesce with the KBL.
She added that she undertook charity missions to encourage others to do same but it was misconstrued as her way of entering politics.
However, she continued to conduct her charity works and saw for herself the sufferings of the elderlies and the less fortunate in Manila, who later convinced her and prompted her to seek the mayorship.
If she gets elected as Manila Mayor, Tamondong said that she would meticulously study whether or not there was really a need to convert some historical landmarks into malls or vertical structures.
If she becomes Mayor, Tamondong said that she would ask the City Council to legislate an Ordinance mandating all the available remaining lands of the city to be used for the housing units of Manilenos.
She added that she would provide for a monthly social pension of P2,000 to qualified indigent senior citizens of Manila.
According to her, among her priority programs as City Chief Executive are the provision of modern equipment and materials in public schools in order to upgrade the knowledge and skills of students.
Tamondong inherited nationalism and patriotism from her father and religiosity from her mother.
Once elected as Mayor, she would legalize the business of all the sidewalk vendors and have them transact business in a common area to earn a decent living where they will not be arrested considering that they are also paying taxes and for their place.
She noted that joblessness makes an individual engage in nefarious activities.
She said that she would legalize all modes of transportation in the city such as e-trikes, kuliglig, tricycles and motorbikes and have them regulated by the local government of Manila.
Tamondong added that there is still a rampant drug problem in the city, stressing that there’s really only one drug rehabilitation center in Manilla and if she becomes Mayor, she would institutionalize the establishment of a drug rehabilitation center in every barangay in the city.
She would also tap the administrative skills or expertise of fixers who have no regular job and have them employed in the local government to have a decent job.
Tamondong as City Mayor will implement transparency in all her programs such that the Manilenos would know where every centavo of the City Budget goes.
According to her, Manila now has a Fund of P34 billion and because of that she will see to it that all the basic services will be delivered, including the health centers in barangays, which will have all the needed medicines for Manilenos with sickness and for maintenance medicines.
Tamondong said that she will go down to the barangays to make sure that all the programs, particularly livelihood projects, for the benefit of Manilenos are implemented to the fullest.
