But if Asenso Manileño would have had its way, this figures can be substantially reduced by creating and generating more than 200,000 jobs in the next three years under its economic platform.

Asenso Manileño, a movement in the city led by Danilo "Danny" Lacuna, Manila’s vice mayor, envisions a Manila that has a vibrant and more progressive middle class who will be spurring the City’s economic engine. The key to a local economy’s success depends highly on a citizenry that is pro-active and has direct contribution to the City’s economic activities.The way to do it is to first provide a dynamic local economy, friendly to the private business sector that makes it easy for them to do their operations, according to Lacuna.

There is a need to make more efficient procedures in order to reduce the transactions cost of doing business. To compliment this efficiency requirement, there should be "special lanes" to attract prospective investors. Manila City Hall must give business investors high priority by providing them business and economic incentives through tax breaks in the form of real property tax for five years.

Once the conditions for good investments are met, Manila should attract business process outsourcing (BPOs) firms. Though Manila is premier city, Lacuna is wondering why BPOs, a sunrise industry, has not set foot on the City. Call centers are all concentrated in the cities of Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasig and Quezon City but not a single call center in Manila. Manila should capitalize on the positive growth this sector offers by transforming the area from T.M Kalaw to Vito Cruz and from Roxas Boulevard to Taft Avenue into "cyber zones," zones that he will tie up with PEZA to immediately gain the benefits of economic zones.

Enticing BPOs is similar to the cliché hitting two birds with one stone. On the one hand, BPOs ensures local economic growth because of the revenues the City will generate. On the other, it secures Manilans ready jobs because Manila is home to the most number of universities and colleges that produce thousands of graduates yearly. Lacuna stressed that newly graduates of the City need not look for jobs in other cities as jobs will be available in Manila.

Together with BPOs, there should be a more sustainable tourism package for the City. In his preliminary study of the benefits of tourism, Lacuna found out that for every one tourist that lands in Manila on one day results in two Manilans gaining employment with proper package and incentives. He projects 500,000 tourists swarming Manila during the first year that would result in the generation of 200,000 jobs for Manila.

He even said that with the right tourism package, he can hit one million tourists provided his business strategy of making tourists stay for two nights in Manila is consistent. The main tourist attraction would be a revitalized China town by transforming it into a historic and cultural site, a "Grand Promenade" beside Baywalk, and a "Manila War Museum." The objective of such feats is to create a tourism-cum-business district in Manila.

Asenso Manileño platform is also focused not only jobs but on the creation of competitive Manila entrepreneurs. Currently, there are only 50,000 registered business in the City. Of the 200,000 plus employment projection, he plans to train ten percent of them in microfinance. He is contemplating on developing links with international finance and development institutions and agencies such as the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, and the United Nations that have microfinance schemes suitable to Manila’s demographics.

There should be a group of business development specialists in the city, enterprise experts who will provide technical assistance to Manilans aspiring to become businessmen and women.

It is high time that Manilans get what they deserve, a local government that is responsive to their needs and responsive to the changing economic environment, Lacuna said.