‘Tondominium’ and quarantine facility goals met
Ican only thank the good Lord for a fruitful week that saw two of my important goals come true. First off, we broke ground on two 15-story condominium buildings that will provide decent housing units for a total of 336 families who do not have a place they can call their own.
The buildings which will be called “Tondominium 1” and “Tondominium 2,” will be erected at the Vitas slaughterhouse site which used to be the smelly, filthy, and stomachturning dumping ground of unwanted animal parts and various other kinds of garbage.
Under the plan, each unit will be 44 square meters big, complete with a bathroom, kitchen area, and two bedrooms, one for the couple and one for their kids, if any.
Among those with me in the project are Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna and brother Dennis Lacuna, who designed the project. As what Vice Mayor Honey said and from what I know, their father, the former Vice Mayor Danny Lacuna, had long wanted this kind of project in Manila but, unfortunately, did not have the chance to do so.
With the housing project now in place, it’s like hitting two birds with one stone. While I am doing for Vice Mayor Danny Lacuna what he had long wanted to do, I am also fulfilling a lifelong dream of mine, which is to help the poor families in Manila own a house, something that I and my family were denied during my younger years.
Being a former squatter myself, I know how it is to live in uncertainty, day in, day out, not knowing if your so-called home will still be there at the end of the day, or if you will still be allowed in by your landlord, knowing that you are up to your neck in rent debts.
Yes, I know exactly how it is to be booted out of your makeshift home for failure to pay rent or because the ground where your home sits is being taken back by government or its owner. I even know how difficult it is to live without a toilet.
What I experienced as a poor, young kid is something that I, as much as possible, would not want other youngsters to go through. That’s why while many are asking why the units are way bigger than the usual condo sizes of 30 square meters or less, I tell them it is because I want to demonstrate how to provide honestto-goodness, liveable, and decent housing.
I want my fellow Manilans to know that the term “Tondominium,” is about to take on a totally different meaning. In my younger years as a scavenger, that term referred to the very negative sorry state of poor Tondo residents who lived in box-like homes on top of one another, similar to the apartment-type niches in public cemeteries.
Instead of being a source of shame, the word “Tondominium” will soon be a source of pride for Tondo residents, with God’s help.
As a bonus, our goal of having 400 beds readily available and spread in 12 quarantine facilities in strategic areas in Manila, was also realized way ahead of the targeted time frame.
In fact, the city now has a total of 482 beds in all, ready to serve and accommodate residents who may need to be quarantined, in preparation for the possibility of a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases now that the National Capital Region has been placed under General Community Quarantine.
But of course, this is one project I hope we won’t have to use at all. Having zero COVID is still the main and primary goal.
These quarantine facilities serve the purpose of isolating those who are positive in the rapid test kits. It is there where these individuals will be swabbed and then await the results of their swab tests. If they are found to be positive again in the confirmatory test, they are brought to the medical facilities or the Manila Infectious Disease Control Center (MIDCC) for treatment.
While we in the local government do everything humanly possible to test, isolate, and treat as many as we can, we also expect the residents to do their end of the bargain and this is simply for them to take real good care of themselves.
All that we ask of our residents is for them to follow basic protocols, namely wearing a face mask properly and at all times, doing frequent hand washing or using alcohol and observing proper physical distancing inside and outside their homes. This way, you can help us in the local government fight COVID-19. Gaya ng paulit-ulit kong sinasabi, kailangan ko ang tulong ninyong lahat. Walang magmamalasakit sa Maynila kundi tayo ding mga Batang Maynila. Manila, God first! For updates on latest developments in the city of Manila, please visit my Facebook account — “Isko Moreno Domagoso.”