Makati gives up holiday glitter to feed poor families

Instead of spending millions for Christmas street lights and fireworks, the city government of Makati City has decided to celebrate the holidays this year by putting food on every family’s table.

Mayor Jejomar Binay announced yesterday that the country’s financial capital will neither have the usual lights and decor nor the extravagant fireworks display on New Year’s Eve.

He said the city government decided to postpone the annual installation of Christmas lights along major roads and so that funds allocated for the same can be used to buy grocery items.

The money, Binay said, will be used to provide grocery items for the city’s poor residents in time for the Christmas season.

"Admittedly, the streets of Makati will not be as bright this year as it was in the previous years," he said. "But with this gesture, we hope we can brighten the homes of poor families who are suffering the most from the economic crisis."

He explained that economic hardship will become more pronounced when set against the backdrop of Yuletide festivities and parties.

Binay said the city and its private sector partners in the Makati Festivals Foundation will also give gifts to communities outside Makati.

The mayor pointed out the foundation will conduct a fund-raising drive among Makati’s business leaders to increase the P18 million allocated for the two activities.

Among the foundation’s members are Ayala Land, Rockwell Land and the Makati Commercial Estate Association (MACEA), which groups building owners at the Central Business District (CBD).  

Binay said he earlier asked city officials and the foundation to review the activities in light of the implementation of the expanded value added tax (EVAT) and its effects on the prices of basic commodities.

"The mayor asked us to decide whether these activities remain relevant and meaningful to the lives of the poor. It was agreed much more needs to be done," City Administrator Nicanor Santiago Jr., chair of the foundation’s executive committee, said.

Santiago said some 9,000 indigent families identified by the city’s Social Welfare Department will be the main beneficiaries of the project.