Clark and Intramuros

There are two government officials in the sub-cabinet level who have shown remarkable performances over the past years. Their attitude towards public service probably explains why they have accomplished so much. As Arnel keeps on saying, kaya natin!

Arnel Casanova of BCDA and Marco Sardillo III of Intramuros Administration have shown us how having a sense of mission can make a public service assignment fulfilling. Arnel’s life story is even more inspiring from informal settler to Harvard. Marco trained at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Administration and his youthful enthusiasm is simply awesome.

Arnel has launched a very big dream of having a well designed new city outside of Metro Manila – Clark’s Green City. It will still take time to realize this big dream, but he has at least organized and started to put in the different elements to make that happen within our lifetimes, I hope.

Marco, on the other hand, has started to do the impossible dream of making Intramuros what we have always wanted it to be: a clean and safe heritage community. It had been all talk and hot air for as long as I can remember. Marco showed what can be done in just about a thousand days.

I will focus this column on Marco because it seems he has decided to call it quits by June 30. He had not been clear with his future plans in our conversations, but he is packing his bags and ready to transfer responsibility to whoever the next administration picks. They should convince him to stay and finish the job he started.

Marco recalls he assumed office as the steward of Intramuros on Aug. 12, 2013 or about a thousand days ago. He said he accepted it months after swearing “never again” to public service. Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, Jr. convinced him by sharing his vision for Intramuros.

Intramuros Administration is a 34-year-old national government agency that has degenerated into an “events organizing” office/venue. Marco inherited “the challenge of delivering on my immediate predecessor‘s promises and press releases.”

When he took over, there was much talk about a “Master Plan,” to PPP projects, to “Gawad Kalinga” resettlement projects – all of which, sadly, had no basis in reality. The “Master Plan” was a mere extremely rough draft “conceptual” plan. The PPP projects were but a “wish list,” without feasibility studies, much less “concept notes.”

As for the promise of “Gawad Kalinga” helping out with the informal settlers, Marco told me it remained undelivered and unfulfilled. “In fact, GK’s executive director has yet to meet with us or to reply to any of our five letters, requesting for an accounting.”

Marco attributes their progress so far in Intramuros to the inspiring leadership of Sec Mon, something I can fully understand. In just three months, Marco said they were able to prepare their “programs, plans, and priorities: 2013-2016.”

A very visible achievement of Marco is removing the utility lines that clutter the view of Intramuros. That is not a simple task as it involves the cooperation of a number of utilities from Meralco to PLDT and the cable companies. It also was not cheap.

Looking forward, Marco and his team were able to develop, propose, and obtain the approval and funding for nearly P900 million worth of infrastructure projects. Last year, for the first time, the Department of Tourism and the Intramuros Administration managed to obtain the approval of the NEDA’s Investment Coordination Committee for what would be their first PPP project.

Marco credits the help of the Public-Private Partnership Center for the preparation and completion of a PPP proposal in record time of two and a half weeks. Marco recalled that “when we presented, then NEDA director-general, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Balisacan expressed a lot of confidence in our proposed PPP project.”

Marco recalled that for the first time, they were given a capital outlay of P410 million – which has been stuck at P0 for over 15 years – for the “restoration and development of Intramuros”. This means they would finally, be able to do something about the informal settler families that had been a problem in Intramuros for the longest time.

Most important, Marco had been able to win the trust and

cooperation of the Intramuros community by spending his free hours — i. e. Sundays — organizing, meeting, and dialoguing with them, to find a more productive and humane way of working together. Finally, after many decades, a workable solution – and humane outcome – is within arm’s reach.

Marco said his personal dream and advocacy of being able to present to an often cynical public a face to the “urban poor” is, finally, coming true: “all because, we refused to give up. I could have made my life easier, by taking advantage of the fact that the Urban Development Housing Act (or the “Lina Law”) exempts “cultural and heritage sites” (like Intramuros) from its coverage.”

Marco explains he could have “simply referred our problem to the housing agencies, and made it someone else’s problem. But, as we explained – and I am pleased the leaders from the House of Representatives and the Senate understood – the plight of our informal settler families is not a ‘mere’ housing problem, as it is situated firmly within the context of inclusive economic development.

“After all, the urban poor are the most vulnerable when it comes to any urban renewal project. How easy would it be for the ‘right’ investor to offer an ‘incentive package’ that most informal settlers would find attractive, for them to move out?

“Leaving it to the market forces would not have solved the problem, and that would have been an abdication of our duty, under the Constitution, to intervene in the interests of distributive justice and the common good.”

Marco said he spent a lot of time personally working to help build trust and relate to the informal settlers on a personal basis. He had been the only administrator to go out there and meet the communities on the ground.

Marco said that during the last few months, they have continued to relentlessly pursue their projects with the thought that whoever succeeds them would realize their value and continue what they have began. They have prepared a pipeline of projects and an even bigger budget to pursue the Intramuros dream.

Marco: “Months from now, my successor will cut the ribbons for the projects that we started, and break the ground for the projects whose resources we shall entrust to him/her.”

I have no idea what Marco plans to do after June 30. He was talking about going back to Singapore. Or maybe go to the academe to share his experience pursuing a dream in government.

I hope they can convince Marco to stay, but that would depend to on who the new Tourism secretary would be. Working for Mon Jimenez can spoil someone like Marco, who will be looking for the same supportive and inspiring leadership.

The future of this country belongs to young men like the 35-year-old Marco Sardillo, Atenean, lawyer and trained in good governance in Singapore. We need more such young people like Arnel and Marco to guarantee the future of this country.