Joma asks Isko: ‘What are your plans for the poor vendors?’
Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairperson Jose Maria Sison asked Manila Mayor Isko Moreno his plans for the poor vendors of Manila who many fears are being swept aside in the ongoing campaign to clear the capital city’s streets of obstruction.
In a video message shown at the end of Moreno’s speech before the Rotary Club of Manila at the New World Hotel in Makati City last Wednesday, Sison asked if Moreno is looking after the poor vendors.
“I have only a simple concrete question: No doubt that it is highly commendable that you have cleared the major streets of Manila of the graft-laden anarchy of vendors. But are there provisions for the poor vendors to peddle their goods in some permissible areas or to have alternative means of livelihood?” Sison asked.
Moreno gamely replied to the question, addressing Sison as “Manong Jo,” an honorific used by both government and National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace negotiators.
“What we did was to clear the backbone of the city. Then ang tinatanong po ni Manong Jo, saan natin inilagay ang mga naapektuhan ng pag-aayos? Sila yung inilagay natin sa mga…side street,” Moreno said.
“That is why, when you go to Quiapo, when you pass by Carriedo, open ang Plaza Miranda. You can see Hidalgo and Villalobos, naroroon ang mga mahihirap natin na nagtitinda,” the mayor said.
“So sa inyo ang Carriedo, ang Plaza, sa gilid naman ang mga vendor,” he added.
Before winning in last May’s election, Moreno served as an NDFP peace consultant for the urban poor in its peace negotiations with the Duterte government in 2016 and 2017.
In 2018, Moreno was appointed by President Duterte as Department of Social Welfare and Development assistant secretary.
In his video message, Sison recalled it was him who introduced Moreno and Rotary Club of Manila president Jackie Rodriguez in The Netherlands at the time of the fourth round of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines-NDFP peace negotiations in 2017.
Rodriguez is a prominent businessperson from Davao City.
“I wish that they would help each other to bring changes for the benefit of the people of Manila,” Sison said. Sison also recalled another connection between himself, Moreno and Rodriguez in the late showbusiness icon German Moreno who groomed the young actor into stardom early in his acting career.
“I wish to share with ‘Ka Isko’ the fact that German Moreno, or Kuya Germs, his adopted father, was a classmate of Jackie and myself in Letran,” Sison said.
Sison also congratulated Moreno in his “resounding success” in becoming Manila mayor.
“In so short a time, he has done so much to impress the people of Manila and the entire Philippines with his determination and effectiveness in serving the people,” Sison said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
