Isko vows ‘change’ in Manila will last: ‘Crucify me’ if not

Manila's charismatic new mayor has made it known that he intends to bring change to the capital. However, has the city seen this change before—and, more importantly, will it last?

An episode of GMA News TV's Bawal ang Pasaway with Mareng Winnie Monsod explores some parallels between Manila Mayor Isko Moreno's early days in office and those of his predecessor Joseph Estrada.

For example, restoring peace and order was also promised by Estrada when he took office in 2013.

The former mayor even created a similar media blitz where he also smashed confiscated illegal machines in front of the media.

But now, pollution and violators are now problems still being dealt with by Moreno, who now stepped into Estrada's shoes after defeating him in May.

In an interview with Mareng Winnie, the new mayor acknowledged that he "cannot please everybody" with the many drastic changes he introduced.

Clearing Manila's busiest areas of obstructions, for one, has affected the earnings of many vendors.

Moreno reiterated that he wants the government to be firm against corruption and get rid of a system in which officials have allegedly been taking bribes from illegal vendors.

Last month, he said that he had been offered a daily bribe of P5 million.

When asked how he was going to assure this "change" would continue, Moreno said, "Para mapanatag kayo: 'Pag 'yan nakabalik, nagkaroon na ako [bribe]."

"Ganoon ka-simple. So ibig sabihin, crucify me."

The word 'poor'

For Moreno, the word "poor" is sometimes exploited by politicians.

The official was asked about his predecessor's criticism of his clean-up drive that affected several illegal vendors. Estrada had said in an interview last month that he did not take away Manila's streets from vendors during his tenure because he considered their livelihood.

On the possibility that Estrada would use this criticism in a possible run to win back the mayoralty, Moreno maintained that he did consider the welfare of the vendors.

"Nalulungkot naman ako, huwag silang magkamali sa akin," he said.

The mayor said that some vendors were being taken advantage of by "organizers" who take bribes in exchange for letting them run their businesses.

Asked further if he feared the possibility of Estrada challenging him for the mayoralty with the criticism over the vendors' welfare, Moreno said: "I wish him good health, I wish him a long life. May karapatan naman siya."

"But as far as I'm concerned, ang hindi talaga magandang nangyayari is ang salitang mahirap ay ginagahasa ng mga pulitiko." — Margaret Claire Layug/BM, GMA News