With only 10 more ballot boxes waiting to be canvassed, leading Manila mayoral bet Sen. Alfredo Lim vowed that he will crack down on drug pushers, thieves and warring gangs once he assumes office on July 1.
“So you better pack up and leave. You better cooperate or evaporate,” he warned troublemakers.
He said a recent bank robbery in Binondo, wherein a building security guard and a messenger of a money-changer shop were injured, received minimal media attention but was a big deal to the Chinese community.
“Also during the campaign, in all six districts the people complained about the drug problem,” Lim said, adding that this is why he is bent on implementing his controversial “spray paint campaign.”
Lim said he never received a notice and thus was not given an opportunity to defend his campaign before the Court of Appeals ruled that it “violated the human rights of drug pushers.”
“Is respect for human rights a one-way traffic? How about the victims, who will protect their rights?” he said.
Lim, also known as the Philippines’ answer to “Dirty Harry,” went around the city to personally thank Manileños for voting him.
While he has not met with Manila Police District officials out of respect for outgoing Mayor Lito Atienza, he warned MPD personnel that he expects them to perform well and will not tolerate “pulis patolas.”
As for Baywalk, one of the Atienza administration’s prized projects, Lim said he intends to remove many of the restaurants that serve liquor because “that is a public place, that is a sidewalk. There is an existing order that prohibits drinking in public places.”
He is also thinking of reclaiming 100 meters of Baywalk, fill it up with white sand and convert into a public swimming pool.
Lim hinted that he plans to lift the “no rally” policy concerning the historic Mendiola bridge, provided the protest is conducted in a peaceful manner and would not cause traffic jams.
He also said he has no qualms about removing the oil depot from Pandacan to comply with the Supreme Court ruling, but questioned the wisdom of transferring the depot to the Harbor Centre in Tondo.
“Would that be far (enough) from the residents in the area? Will they be affected just in case there is a leakage?” Lim said.
He plans to construct low-cost housing for poor residents of District 6 once the oil firms vacate the depot. – Evelyn Macairan