Mayor Isko announces 2022 presidential run, slams Duterte admin’s ‘unli quarantines,’ use of Filipinos as ‘guinea pigs’

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso believes he is not too young to seek the presidency next year.

After 23 years in public service, the charismatic Manila mayor announced he will seek the presidency in the 2022 elections. He has chosen Doctor Willie Ong, also a social media celebrity, to be his running mate to help the country navigate and survive the pandemic.

Mayor Isko was a poor garbage collector from Tondo before rising to fame in local show business and politics.

“Nakilala ninyo akong tapat sa pamamahala at totoong pananalita. Hard work and straight talk. Whether it is about city projects or personal beliefs, I convey it with candor, I do not play coy. Real talk lang palagi,” he said before a gathering of supporterss in Manila on Sept. 22, 2021.

“Kaya buong kababaang-loob inihahayag ko sa inyo mga kababayan ko, sa darating na Mayo, tanggapin niyo po ang aking aplikasyon bilang pangulo ng Pilipinas,” he said.

Mayor Isko said his decision to run for president was not driven by ambition for power but by the dire situation of the country amid a pandemic.

He did not mince words with the Duterte administration when it comes to the pandemic response. He slammed the national government’s poor efforts to address the COVID-19 outbreak, particularly in implementing “unli quarantines” where Filipinos only became its guinea pigs. This was in contrast to other countries that applied best practices and conducted field trials of scientific solutions, he said.

“We have used our people as guinea pigs in the longest and strictest experiment of unli-quarantines. 557 na po tayo sa quarantine but instead of flattening the curve, we have flattened our economy,” he said.

He said many people continue to suffer in hospitals without beds, doctors, medicine and oxygen. He also criticized the health department for alleged mishandling of the COVID-19 funds, that led to the delay of purchase of ventilators and medicines and distribution of hazard allowance to medical frontliners.

“Nakalulungkot ang kalagayan ng public health system ng ating bansa,” he said.

Mayor Isko is dismayed that the prolonged lockdown locked up many Filipinos in their homes, forced closure of many businesses, unemployment and the hunger among Filipinos. “It is the children who paid dearly for their government’s failures,” he said.

Given the supposed lapses by the current government, the next administration will have a tough challenge ahead especially in pandemic response and recovery.

“The road to recovery will be hard, the journey long, the challenges complex, the sacrifices required from each of us will be great,” Mayor Isko said.

Mayor Isko admitted though there is “no magic wand” that will make the country’s problems go away. “Only hard work will,” he said.

The post Mayor Isko announces 2022 presidential run, slams Duterte admin’s ‘unli quarantines,’ use of Filipinos as ‘guinea pigs’ first appeared on .

Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)