As a Manileño who has seen three mayors at its helm — Mel Lopez, Fred Lim and Lito Atienza — there was no doubt that Atienza built on what Lim has started and brought Manila back into the tourist map and initiated cultural revival and urban development.
I once thought that Manila was a lost cause because of urban decay but I was surprised by the transformation of the city — Roxas Boulevard, the city’s plazas and the public wet markets in particular. There is one thing that I disliked during Atienza’s term — it’s the proliferation of pedicabs along national and city roads.
I hesitantly voted for Ali Atienza, not because I did not appreciate his father’s accomplishments, but because of too much politicking and overexposure (like riding on the popularity of Pacquiao who is also losing in his congressional bid). To me, the accomplishments, which are obvious, should speak for themselves.
Now that it was clear that Senator Lim is set to take over the governance of Manila and after the Atienzas have accepted the defeat, these are the questions that are bugging my mind and given a chance, I would like to ask Mayor Lim personally:
- What will happen now to Baywalk and the other projects that beautify Manila?
- What will happen to Unibersidad de Manila (formerly City College of Manila)? Will it go back to the old PNB building along Escolta?
- Are we going to see a radical change in governance?
I have high regards for Senator Lim because he changed the image of Ermita and addressed the garbage problem of the city. I also voted for him in his bid for the Senate in the last 2004 elections. Am hoping that he will not be like some of our national leaders whose first project in office is to “undo” what his/her predecessors have accomplished, even if these projects have been beneficial.
August 29th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
I Just dint get it!!!
He close down the baywalk that was one of the most visit places from Tourists and we enjoy the atmosfar there,,WY?? it also let some people get the income tru restaurants and artists and so on,,,,,
I dont get it,,,,he wants more people live in street with no jobb??? wy not let the business go on and get taxmoney to get this poor mothers with babys living in street a life DIBA“
I just dont get how the goverment people think in the Philipines.
I love the country,, i love the people Filipinos are among the most humble people in the world
MAKE SOME RADICAL CHANGES FOR THE SMALL PEOPLE ,,they earned it!!!!
Lars from sweden
July 12th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
Sandy
i wonder why some of my posts were not posted when I only stated facts….
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admin:
please update your blog as often as possible……
ty
July 9th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
i wonder why some of my posts were not posted when I only stated facts…. hmm.. I guess this blog is also politicized.. o well, I guess the Philippines is just bound to really stay as is.. with people being so negative about everything and the media only showing what they want to show… o well… I wonder what the next generation would inherit from this generation….
July 6th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
tulad ng mabini noon, baywalk is history……
avenida, mukhang padadaan na sa mga sasakyan, inaalis na yung mga harang yata………
concern ako sa mendiola, puede na raw mag rally tuwing weekends and holidays basta may permit, ok lang yon, para hindi naiistorbo ang mga studyante……
mukhang titignan ng mga militante si lim, magrarally yata sila ng walang permit at itataon pa sa weekdays…….
ay naku, talaga naman o, ibinigay na nga ni lim ang kamay niya, ngayon gusto na siyang lamunin ng buo……..
sa mga militanteng grupo o sino man, huwag na ninyong antayin pang mag kahiyaan pa ni mayor lim, mahirap na, let it be, sunod na lang kayo sa batas……
ok……
July 5th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
This reply is for SHIKAMARU
One sad fact about filipinos is that when public officials do good things, they are always doubted to do it because of a self-serving motive. In the Philippines, it is either damn if you do and damn if you dont.
People like YOU causes the downfall of this country.
First and foremost if you truly believe in your heart that each lampost in Manila costs 400k then why dont you come up with documents that really states that fact and show it to the media?? The media blatantly exposes those things and they may even pay you just to get those facts out.. the thing with you is that you make generalizations and you pair it up with your “position” in the government … that is the perfect ingredient for WRONG PERCEPTIONS regarding reality.
Since you stated so clearly that you were for your BELOVED mayor Lim and that you know how much of a better mayor he is , then how come you dont even know that he also has his share of CORRUPTING the city once upon a time… Do you know that Manila was almost indebted when he gave the city to Atienza.. and do you know how much each elevator in the city hall cost? — he pegged it for 10 million each… the worst part there is that it never got fixed! How about what he did to