MANILA - Manila Mayor Isko Moreo said Monday he encouraged some of the country's tycoons to invest in the old business district of Escolta and to provide jobs and help curb crime.

Moreno had dinner Saturday with SM Investments Corp's vice chairman Teresita Sy-Coson, Ayala Corp chairman and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala and Alliance Global CEO Kevin Tan, who posted photos of the meeting on his Instagram the day after.

"I’m grateful kasi ang hiningi ko sa kanila bumalik, mag invest sa Manila (I'm grateful because I asked them to return, invest in Manila)... that I requested them to focus their vision to a particular geography which is Escolta and told them that in the earlier times Escolta is the business center in the country," Moreno said.

The former actor, who won the mayoral race against former president Joseph Estrada, also asked conglomerates to hire Manila residents.

"‘Yan ang aking personal request, kung magtatayo ng branch, kung magtatayo ng franchise, magtatayo ng development, ang pakiusap ko at the very least, 70 percent ng i-hire nilang empleyado ay taga lungsod ng Maynila. I was asked why, because what I believe personally, this is one way of reducing criminality in the city of Manila," the Mayor said. -- with a report from Isay Reyes, ABS-CBN News