Isko Moreno campaigns to take Manila 'achievements' nationwide

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso on Tuesday formally began a campaign that would seek to put a boy who grew up in a home in the Tondo slums to the most famous address in the Philippines.

The first day of electoral campaigns is typically for gathering and rousing a candidate’s base of supporters, and Moreno did just that in his hometown of Manila by doubling down on his usual narratives as he officially launched his campaign to the presidency.

Before the ceremony itself, Moreno started the day with a mass at the Archdiocesan Shrine of the Sto. Nino de Tondo in Manila. He would eventually be an hour late to his own proclamation rally; his campaign said this was "happy news" as they didn't expect his motorcade to take as long as it did. 

During his speech, Moreno reiterated key themes in his campaign with lofty and ambitious promises to focus on housing, education, livelihood, and addressing the coronavirus pandemic. 

"I get things done. I listen to specialists, to qualified people with good intentions...we always come up with a solution and we always find ways of doing it," he said Tuesday night.

Asked why she supports Moreno, Eleanor Pinon, a store owner from Manila, said she felt his concern ever since his days as a vice mayor.

"Okay ang mga patakaran niya [at] may malasakit talaga siya para sa amin sa Manila...hindi niya kami pinabayaan simula noong lockdown," she told Philstar.com. 

(His policies are okay and he really cares about us in Manila... he didn't abandon us during the pandemic)

"Kaya support ko talaga si Isko hanggang ngayon."

(That's why I support him until now)

Pinon said she feels that housing is the biggest problem in Manila. It's also a personal problem for her, she shared; her home burnt down weeks ago and she was moving from place to place while trying to find a new home.

"Yun ang ipaabot ko sana kay Isko," she said.

(That is what I want to bring to his attention)

Does she think an Isko presidency can solve that?

"Sana talaga. Yun naman ang pinangako niya rito."

(I hope so. That is what he is promising here)

For much of his speech, Moreno also pushed the narrative of only two families ruling Philippine politics, even going so far as naming the Aquinos and the Marcoses. Although dynastic politics has been a factor in Philippine elections, it is inaccurate to say that political power has rested only in these two clans. 

"If you keep doing the same thing after 39 years, then don’t expect different results...iba naman tayo," he said as he framed himself as an alternative candidate. 

"After 39 years, kamusta na kaya ang buhay niyo? Kamusta na ang Pilipinas? Yan po ang isa sa mga naging dahilan kung bakit ako sumali sa halalan."

(After 39 years, how have your lives been? How has the Philippines done? Those are the reasons that made me decide to run for president)

Moreno's campaign team also hosted a Zoom watch party for supporters across the country from Cavite, Pampanga, Bohol, Cebu, Zamboanga City, and Butuan.

In a bit of a surprise move, former agrarian reform secretary John Castriciones disclosed onstage that his group, the Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte National Executive Coordinating Council — known for calling for a revolutionary government earlier on in the pandemic — formally backs the candidacy of Moreno.

Isko Moreno's "Blue Wave" caravan floods the streets of Manila City with blue on Tuesday morning. Moreno, who just heard mass at the Tondo Church, is set to hold his campaign launch later 4:30 p.m. at the Kartilya ng Katipunan.

????: Moreno's campaign team @PhilstarNews pic.twitter.com/BgAHfomRd5

— Franco Luna (@francoIuna) February 8, 2022

Replicating Manila's successes on a national level

At the presentation of his ten-point economic platform earlier this month, Moreno vowed to focus on "life and livelihood" to guide the country through the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Just as President Rodrigo Duterte did with Davao City in 2016, Moreno is running on ambitious promises to replicate what he achieved in Manila all over the country if he wins in 2022. Besides both being former mayors, Duterte and Moreno also share a campaign strategist in Lito Banayo.

All night long, Domagoso and his Aksyon Demokratiko party mates took turns highlighting his track record in Manila, ranging from his construction of field hospitals, intensified vaccination campaign, free testing and medicine, and housing projects.

Is a full replication of his projects in the capital city actually possible on a national scale? Political scientist Jean Franco isn’t convinced, pointing to the past six years under the former Davao City mayor. 

"In an emergency, you see the weaknesses of a mayor because they don’t know the bureaucracy or global problems...You cannot really replicate [because] the dynamics of the national level are different," she told Philstar.com in a phone call earlier Tuesday evening.

To be sure, his achievements in the capital city are extensive. As local chief executive of  Manila, Moreno embarked on a massive infrastructure program that focused on building schools, hospitals, and housing in the nation’s capital.

But Franco said that the achievements in Manila won't resonate as well with Filipinos for one simple reason: where President Rodrigo Duterte had decades as Davao City chief, Moreno has only had three years in the capital city.

"Even if you can replicate, what can Isko boast of at this point when it’s just been three years? But if he doesn’t have Manila, what will he say? That’s precisely the point why people are asking why he jumped right away [to running for president.]"

In his media appearances thus far, Moreno is quick to point to his 23 years in government when asked about his relative inexperience compared to other candidates. 

Populist rhetoric

On Tuesday, Moreno, a former garbage collector, regaled his supporters with tales of his upbringing in the Tondo district. He has likened himself to former President Ramon Magsaysay, whom Moreno said was the last chief executive who truly came from poverty.

"Puwede pala maging mayor ng Maynila. Imposible, pero naging posible," he said to start off his over 25-minute speech to applause from his audience. 

(It is possible after all to become mayor of Manila. Impossible but it became possible)

It’s the same line Moreno has leaned on since he announced his candidacy: he understands the struggles of the poor, he says, because he’s been there himself. 

"His initial salvo was really to make people [feel like] they are him. But there are people who are like Isko, they’re hardworking, but they won’t really be like him," Franco said. 

Throughout the election season thus far, the Manila chief — who admitted his net worth stands at P70 million — has portrayed himself as a swaggering, unbureaucratic man of the people who focuses on serving the people instead of politics. 

In a statement sent to reporters ahead of the launch, the Aksyon Demoratiko standard-bearer compared himself to the Bible character David, saying he too "can beat the Goliaths of Philippine politics."

But Franco said that Moreno would have to do more than just connect with the voting public on issues close to them: he would have to provide solutions, too. 

"People have toiled all their lives and they are still poor. Because there are structural issues, and just because you’re hardworking doesn’t mean you will have the opportunities."

Moreno ends by posing the question for the fourth time in his over 25-minute speech: “Kumusta na kayo after 39 years?” @PhilstarNews

— Franco Luna (@francoIuna) February 8, 2022

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