Presidential Peace Adviser Sonny Razon assured Monday Manila residents of his commitment to push programs to encourage investors back to the city of Manila by making it easy for the businessmen to establish their businesses in the city.

Razon had earlier announced his intention to run as mayor of Manila in May, 2010.

In his visit to Manila Bulletin office in Intramuros, Manila, Razon told editors and reporters that investors are going to the cities of Makati, Taguig and Quezon despite the fact that the University Belt is located in Manila.

He said his focus is to frame programs to attract investors to the city, and to improve the delivery of basic services such as health care and education.

Asked how he would attract investors, Razon said “You make business attractive in the city, first make it easy for investors to invest in Manila. Ang problema sa Manila nag-uumpisa pa lang e meron na kaagad condition (The problem in Manila is when one starts something, there are a lot of conditions given).

“You have to make it attractive to get new business. The university belt is located here but we cannot attract the BPO sector here in Manila. They are in Taguig, QC, Makati when in fact students are here in the U belt,” he said.

He also cited the need to make the whole city a Wifi area. Dapat meron willing na I wifi yung city… that’s good for business, education. That’s good for every Manileno pero ang nangyayari ang gusto mag wifi sa city di makapasok,” he said.

He also discussed the flooding problem, which is another area of concern in public service.

“Flooding is a problem of the geography of Manila due to the fact that the city is below sea level. Some parts of Manila are reclaimed, tubigan yan dati even dun sa San Andres.”

He said another area of concern is proper waste disposal. “We keep on throwing garbage in the Pasig River and esteros and these are all supposed to help drain the water,” he said.

Razon also discussed the problem of squatting with utmost sensitivity saying that the relocation of the squatters should be within the city. “It is nice to remove them from the railroad tracks but we have to relocate them also somewhere here in the city of Manila. They live here for long, their jobs are here. They should not be relocated far from the city,” he said.

He also said many squatters live in the waterways and under the bridges.

“It should be city relocation. But we will take the bull by its horns. Nangyari yan sa Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta these capital cities have their own share of squatters but they attended to it. It might have taken them a long time pero na solve nila,” he said.

He will also focus on peace and order. “That (referring to a place with no opportunities) is a breeding ground for criminals. We have to attend to their needs and improve their living condition,” he said.

He said the city of Manila has many properties to accommodate the residents and to be used for public service. “Housing, jobs and basic services like health, education. We have budget for hospitals and yet these basic needs are not fully realized. We should improve Ospital ng Maynila. The city budget gives PhilHealth benefits to 130,000 indigent families, but when I checked with PhilHealth, its records showed that only 18,000 families are enrolled,” he said.

He further noted that drugs and medicines for the city hospitals have huge budget allocations. “You will be surprised for this year although baka di ito abutin pero projected nila P91.450 million last year it was only P23.5 million, 2007 has P14 million, 2006 has P14 million, P12 million in 2005 and P17 million in 2004 so malaki yung jump.”