Manila thankful for its officials, employees, and citizens

Our beloved city of Manila has a lot to be thankful for these past few days. One after another, highly prestigious awards have been heaped upon Manila by various reputable award-giving bodies in recognition of efforts to provide the best kind of public service possible for Manilans who, we in the city government, believe deserve nothing less.

Most recently, Manila was hailed as the “Most Competitive” city in the country during the Department of Trade and Industry’s 8th Regional Competitiveness Summit.

Apart from the “Overall Competitiveness Award for Highly-\Urbanized Cities,” Manila was also given recognition with the “Most Competitive in Infrastructure Award in Highly-Urbanized Cities” and “Most Competitive in Government Efficiency Award for Highly- Urbanized Cities.” The local government of Manila also won third place in the following categories: Most Competitive in Resiliency for Highly Urbanized Cities and Most Competitive in Government Efficiency, and for these recognitions, we thank the DTI.

In measuring the competitiveness of cities and municipalities, four indicators were used. These are: economic dynamism, or activities that generate more jobs and businesses in the city; government efficiency, or the quality of service and reliability of the local government unit; infrastructure, or the physical development of the city and resiliency, or the capability of the city to pursue development even after a tragedy.

Days before this, Manila got conferred second place in the “Best in Customer Empowerment G2C” and the ‘Occupational Permits and Health Certificate Integration System’ categories of the Digital Governance Awards 2020. This happened after Manila received the Seal of Good Financial Housekeeping just last month.

The Digital Governance Awards given by the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), principally cited the city government’s “Go Manila” app, which is an end-to-end solution to tax payment, where a taxpayer may be able to settle his dues without personally appearing in City Hall and wherever he may be. For this, I laud our electronic data processing (EDP) chief Fortune Palileo and his team.

Alongside all these, we are equally thankful after the city-run Sta. Ana Hospital headed by its director, Dr. Grace Padilla, was cited as one of the top awardees of the “Gawad Bayaning Kalusugan” in line with the consistent, efficient medical services being given by its officers, doctors and other frontliners amid the pandemic.

Apart from making it to the ‘top ten’ awardees, the “Manila COVID Warriors” team of the Sta. Ana Hospital was also given due recognition and the hospital additionally received a huge cash prize.

For these, we thank the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), together with the Association of Allied Health Organizations of the Nation (AAHON) and the Health Educationalists, Advocates and Leaders Philippines (HEAL Phils).

The “Gawad Bayaning Kalusugan” pays tribute to those in the frontlines of health care and case management of patients with COVID-19 in the Philippine hospitals. It celebrates the individual and team stories of heroism and the hallmark service excellence offered by the individual frontliners during the pandemic.

I and Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna are extremely humbled and elated by these recognitions, coming at a time when the country is in the middle of a crisis. Credit goes to our hardworking city employees and fellow city officials, without whose utmost dedication to duty and support, no program of ours would have ever been successful. Our gratitude goes to them and of course, to God from whom everything emanates and whose guidance we continue to seek in all we do.

Last but definitely not the least, I would also like to commend our very own beloved citizens of Manila for their continued support and cooperation which are highly contributory to the success of everything we do for the city and its people.

With the people’s backing, there is no way that the local government will go wrong. I am confident that Manila will be back on its feet in no time.

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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!

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For updates on latest developments in the city of Manila, please visit my Facebook account – ‘Isko Moreno Domagoso.’