Why certain portions of Pasay City Hall stink

Pasay City Mayor Peewee Trinidad admitted yesterday that stench and decay have overtaken some relatively unseen portions of his City Hall but vowed a complete overhaul by the end of the year.

Trinidad made the confession even as he boasted that the city’s 11 health centers were recently cited for their health programs, receiving the "Sentrong Sigla" Awards from the Department of Health. "This just shows that our health services are of high quality," Trinidad told The STAR.

But the city mayor admitted that more of such health excellence is to be desired right in his own backyard.

"We are now addressing that problem (stink at City Hall). Actually what happened there was that our septic tank overflowed recently and I have asked our City Engineer to do something about it," said Trinidad.

Other busy parts of Pasay also suffer uncollected trash, unregulated vending, and chaotic traffic.

The city government spends P16 million a month for trash management alone but it has remained secretive on where it is dumping its trash.

Even the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said such information is being withheld from them. The DPWH said in earlier interviews that flood control centers in Pasay have the most trash retrieved from sewage going to their pumping stations.

Particularly deteriorating in Pasay’s City Hall are its jail, police investigation division, and clearance division — all located behind City Hall.

"I have instructed my men to clean up that area and remove all the squatters and vendors around them," added Trinidad. "It is only recently that things got worse in that area."

But according to some veteran policemen, the place has long been messy and malodorous.

Ironically, Pasay has a high number of cases involving foreigners who unfortunately contend with the foul smell if they want their complaints processed.

Trinidad said plans are now being drawn up for the construction of a new building that would house the city police headquarters and other offices.

The Pasay City Hall parking grounds are also filled with abandoned and cannibalized vehicles. – Jose Aravilla and Nikko Dizon