MANILA—"Talagang Manila is full of sh*t—literal, not metaphorically."
Manila Mayor Isko Moreno had this to say in his first few weeks into office.
"Instead na i-sugarcoat mo or itago mo, mas lalong hindi nareresolba," he said in a speech during the induction of officers of Rotary Club of Bagumbayan-Manila.
The new mayor urged his fellow Rotarians to help him in cleaning up the capital's image.
"Let’s use your resources towards a direction where we are going to make Manila vibrant again," he said.
Last week, Moreno stepped on human feces while inspecting the Andres Bonifacio monument beside the Manila City Hall.
Cleanup operations in the city intensified after the incident.
The Department of Public Services, firefighters, and citizens helped to scrub and wash away the grime of Lawton area after supposedly being used as a toilet by informal settlers, according to the mayor.
Authorities also removed some 58 stalls in Kartilya ng Katipunan Park, where a monument of Emilio Jacinto could be found, for obstructing the path of pedestrians.
Authorities said they plan to clean the shrine twice a week to remove the smell of human feces.
"Overlooking pa ito sa office ni mayor. Sobrang eyesore. Ang utos sa atin ay linisin nang maayos ang kapaligiran dito, lalo dito amoy dumi ng tao," Chairman Lenin Bacud of Barangay 435 Sampaloc said.
A new station commander of Lawton Police Community Precinct has also been assigned, after Moreno ordered the relief of Police Lt. Rowel Robles due to his mismanagement of the area. —With reports from Ina Reformina, ABS-CBN News