Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno Domagoso used a sustainability forum Thursday, April 30, to present his administration’s development record, citing stronger public healthcare, expanded education services, thousands of new jobs, and the city’s first Summer Pride Parade as evidence that sustainable development was taking hold in the capital.
Speaking at the Manila Bulletin Sustainability Forum held at the University of Santo Tomas (UST), Domagoso argued that the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals are only as meaningful as the local governments willing to carry them out.
“These goals are only as meaningful as the local government willing to carry them out,” he said. “They do not implement themselves. They do not fund themselves. Somebody has to do the actual work. In Manila, we are doing the work.”
On healthcare, Domagoso cited the opening of Manila’s seventh district hospital in Baseco—a community he described as historically underserved—and the launch of a cardiac catheterization laboratory at Ospital ng Maynila, where a procedure costing up to P300,000 in private hospitals is now available for free. The city has also released over P500 million for medicines and hospital equipment.
On education, he said the city has built new public elementary and secondary schools, installed Smart TVs in kindergarten classrooms citywide, released allowances for over 11,000 teachers, and provided free milk for children.
On economic development, Domagoso said the reopening of the Electronic Business One Stop Shop and a reduction in documentary requirements helped push business tax collection up by more than 300 percent in the administration’s first three months, with new investments reaching P7.1 billion and generating over 12,000 jobs.
On social inclusion, the mayor pointed to last Saturday’s Summer Pride Parade 2026—which he said drew thousands of LGBTQIA+ members, families, and allies from Ermita to Remedios Circle—as the latest expression of an inclusion agenda that his administration has long pursued.
During his first term, Manila passed the Anti-Discrimination Ordinance, which extended legal protections to the city’s LGBTQIA+ community. The Pride Parade, held for the first time under his current term, builds on that legislative foundation.
“A city that leaves anyone behind is not a sustainable city,” he said.
Closing his remarks, Domagoso addressed the students in the audience directly, urging them to hold leaders accountable and serve their communities without waiting to be asked.
“Sustainability means making decisions today that the next generation will be grateful for,” he said. “In Manila, that is exactly what we are doing.”
