WHAT ISKO FOUND: MANILA DEEP IN DEBT, TRASH

MANILA’s first lady mayor, Maria Sheilah ‘Honey’ Honrado Lacuna-Pangan, left City Hall with her pride in tatters after being massively overwhelmed by returning mayor, Francisco ‘Isko Moreno’ Domagoso in the midterm polls and the legacy of her father, former Vice Mayor Danilo ‘Danny’ Bautista Lacuna as a public servant, forever shattered after burying the city not only in garbage, but also in debt and raid on the city’s coffers when she left office, major scandals that would not be easily forgotten.

In his first ‘State of the City Address’ at the Manila City Council’s Inaugural Session, Moreno did not hold back in exposing what transpired during the 3-years term of Lacuna, a dermatologist by profession, primarily the gargantuan debt of more than P10.2 billion “and counting,” Moreno said, adding the debt pile only covers the first quarter of the year.

Days previously, Moreno spearheaded the cleaning of the city that resulted to the collection of more than 2,500 tons of uncollected garbage.

Manila in financial ‘ICU’

From his presentation, the public were shocked to learn that Lacuna’s administration appeared to have deliberately ignored its financial obligations to City Hall employees, the Manila Police District, senior citizens, health services, city-run colleges and universities but even to critical service and utility providers.

From the breakdown, the previous regime failed to fund more than P589 million as subsidy to the city’s senior citizens; nearly P3 billion in budget for drugs, medicines and medical equipment and supplies were also not provided for.

Important services like janitorial and security and equipment maintenance were also left gasping for fund after being owed with more than P431 million.

The city’s perennial problem of uncollected garbage, Moreno noted, was due to the fact that Lacuna’s administration owed the city’s garbage haulers more than P950 million.

Moreno also bared that more than P2.2 billion were owed to contractors although no new infrastructure projects in the past three years were undertaken but only “repairs and rehabilitations” of existing structures.

The city, Moreno added, also owed nearly P3 billion (P2.967 billion) from suppliers of “other goods, supplies and materials.”

He noted that even the paltry support of more than P20 million to the MPD was not also prioritize by his predecessor while P55 million in subsidy was owed to the city’s educational institutions.

Repeatedly, Moreno said Manila today is in “financial ICU.”

More questionable goings on, cash advances under Lacuna

“It appears that City Hall has more leaks than the Titanic,” Moreno said, specifically alluding to the corruption at the city’s zoning and business permits offices.

He noted that in November 2024, the job of the Business Permit Office was questionably transferred to the Office of the Secretary to the Mayor, Bernie Ang.

As a result, he said at least 1,000 new business applications were left unprocessed while other interested businesses decided to simply transfer their business elsewhere.

“We will go back to the ‘gold standard’ on business permit process,” he vowed.

The city’s decreasing revenue under Lacuna resulted to Manila’s budget deficit of more than P4.65 billion, with tax collection only reaching P21.234 billion against the approved budget of P25.884 billion.

Moreno also bared that as the midterm polls near, three trusted associates of Lacuna were allowed cash advances totaling nearly P2.1 billion.

The records, he said, showed that Atty. Marlon Lacson posted a cash advance of P1.161 billion between September 2024, before the filing of the certificate of candidacy for the midterm polls and, February 2025, already the start of the campaign period.

On the other hand, Fernan Bermejo drew cash advances totaling P641.863 million in a span of 2 months, between February and April 2025.

In just three months, from January to March 2025, Joy Dawis Asuncion, Assistant City Administrator, was allowed to collect P683 million in cash advances, the amount questionably transferred from the city’s Trust Fund Account to the General Fund.

On May 9, three days before the elections, Moreno also named Jonathan Garzo, as being authorized by Lacuna to advance the staggering amount of P132 million.

Moreno also bared that between August 2024 up the election month of May 2025, the Lacuna administration advanced a total of P3.833 billion, a huge amount that he said is also under investigation.

“Wala na bang kahihiyan? Nawala na ba ang pagmamalasakit sa kapwa,” Moreno said.