Manila City Council (1998–2007) Moreno started his political career in
1998 when he was elected and sworn in as
councilor under then-Mayor
Lito Atienza for Manila's
first legislative district at age 23, the youngest-elected councilor in Manila's history at that time. After receiving criticism from other members of the city council especially for being a high school graduate, his mentor, then-vice mayor
Danny Lacuna, encouraged him to study while fulfilling his duties. In 2003, Moreno obtained a business administration degree from the
International Academy of Management and Economics in
Makati. He also took a crash course in local legislation and local finance at the
National College of Public Administration and Governance,
University of the Philippines Diliman. It was also Lacuna who financed Moreno's studies.
Vice mayor of Manila (2007–2016) After his third and final term as city councilor, Moreno ran for vice mayor in
2007 under
Asenso Manileño, a local party he co-founded with
Danilo Lacuna in 2005, as the running mate of then outgoing vice mayor Lacuna. During his election campaign, he criticized what he called "
black propaganda" by opponents who used photographs from his past "sexy" acting career but did not pursue any charges. Moreno eventually won the elections, beating his closest rival by about 80,000 votes; however, Lacuna lost to Senator and former Manila Mayor
Alfredo Lim of the
Liberal Party. He was re-elected in
2010, this time under
Nacionalista Party and as the running mate of then-incumbent Mayor Lim. Both Lim and Moreno took part in the negotiation of the
Manila hostage crisis until it was taken over by the police. Moreno had criticized the national government's urgency on the matter, saying the national government should have intervened early because foreign nationals were involved. Moreno also served as vice chairman of the Manila Historical and Heritage Commission. In 2011, Moreno was chosen to visit Washington, D.C., under the
International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) sponsored by the
US State Department, the only Filipino participant of their group. Between 2012 and 2013, the
Commission on Audit (COA) found Moreno's office had 623
ghost employees. Cases were filed against him but were dismissed by the
Office of the Ombudsman. Moreno said he believed the allegations were politically motivated and headed by Mayor Lim, which resulted in them falling out. Moreno said he was only the signatory of the disbursement of the city council's employees and that the Office of the City Treasurer disburses employee salaries. The Manila
Regional Trial Court ordered the reinstatement of Moreno's employees, whom the court declared as unlawfully terminated by Lim. Judge Daniel Villanueva dismissed Lim's allegations that some of the terminated workers could be ghost employees. In May 2012,
Joseph Estrada, the 13th president of the Philippines, announced his intention to run for mayor of Manila in the
2013 local election against the incumbent mayor Lim, but only for one term to make way for Moreno afterwards. Moreno, who was running for re-election as vice mayor in his third-and-last consecutive term, was chosen as Estrada's running mate. Estrada drove his "Jeep ni Erap" from
San Juan to his new house at Altura Street,
Sampaloc, Manila (near
Santa Mesa), to ceremonially launch his candidacy. He was joined by his wife, former senator
Loi Ejercito, and Moreno. Moreno said he believed Mayor Lim was involved in his arrest but Lim refuted this. Moreno said the bingo game was not illegal because there was no wager involved and the cards were given for free. Moreno also said the bingo session was initiated for entertainment purposes to attract people to attend their consultation program. In his defense, Moreno said there is no law that requires anyone to obtain a permit from the local government unit if the bingo games were intended purely for entertainment purposes, especially when being done in a private, gated compound. The day before, Lim and Estrada signed a "peace covenant" to prevent election-related violence in Manila. Moreno and the other councilors were released a day later, and the gambling charges were eventually dismissed by the
Department of Justice due to lack of evidence and vague allegations. The police complainants also failed to cite a particular provision of the law that was violated. Moreno was re-elected in May 2013, and Estrada defeated Lim to become the new mayor of Manila. The Campaign Finance Office of the
Commission on Elections (COMELEC) filed a complaint against Moreno in May 2017 for overspending in the 2013 elections, saying Moreno exceeded expenditure limits by over in his final vice-mayoral bid. In his counter-affidavit that was received by COMELEC in October 2020, Moreno said his declared spending was a "simple and honest oversight" due to variances and un-reconciled accounts, and the mistake was in
good faith. He later adjusted his expense report where the amended sum fell within campaign spending limits. Under Republic Act No. 7166, a candidate with political-party support who is standing for neither the positions of president or vice president may spend only up to ₱3.00 per registered voter in his or her constituency. Several
poll watchdogs have echoed support for Moreno and have campaigned for the revision of an outdated spending cap because they said such law, which was enacted in 1991, no longer reflected actual spending, and that such action would make the disclosure of candidates and political parties more truthful. Under the poll body's Rules of Procedure, preliminary investigations on election offenses must be terminated within 20 days after the receipt of counter-affidavits, after which a resolution should be made within five days. However, there has been no resolution on the case since then and it is unlikely to bring the case to court because COMELEC may be found guilty of "inordinate and oppressive delay". In its defense, COMELEC said the slow pace of the procedures is "usual" due to unclear delegation and delineation of functions. In September 2014, five
barangay chairpersons from Tondo filed a plunder complaint against Moreno and several other city officials in Manila with the
Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly diverting real property tax shares amounting to ₱77 million to a "dummy" barangay in late 2013. Moreno said the accusations were politically motivated. According to him, the dummy barangay the complainants were referring to was Barangay 128 in
Smokey Mountain. Moreno also said the funds they gave to Smokey Mountain, as well as the poor barangays in Parola and Baseco, were "floating funds" from uninhabited barangays in the city's piers, and that such action was a "normal proceeding" since the time of former mayors Lito Atienza and Alfredo Lim. Moreno alleged the complainants wanted to take a share of the funds but failed to properly request them. Moreno said he and his co-defendants were willing to face the allegations but there had been no official report or publicly available update from the Office of the Ombudsman regarding the complaint. Also during his tenure as vice mayor, Moreno was elected the National President of the Vice Mayors' League of the Philippines (VMLP) from 2008 to 2016, and the first Vice President of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) from 2014 to 2016. He was also the Chairman Emeritus of the Kaagapay ng Manileño Foundation from 2007 to 2010.
2016 Philippine Senate campaign 's (second from right) election campaign rally in
Tondo, Manila in 2016 along with Isko Moreno (left),
Grace Poe (second from left), and
Honey Lacuna (right) In 2015, Moreno announced he would run for
senator of the Philippines in
2016 after incumbent Mayor Joseph Estrada decided to run for another term. He was named as part of the senatorial slate of presidential candidate and Senator
Grace Poe's
Partido Galing at Puso coalition and as an adopted senatorial candidate of Senator
Bongbong Marcos, who was then running for vice president. He lost in his bid, placing 16th overall. He received the biggest campaign contributions and donations by any senatorial candidate that year through pooled funds from donors. Moreno declared and paid the obligated taxes from his ₱50 million unused campaign donations as stated in his mandatory income tax return, in compliance with the law. Other candidates who also declared excess campaign donations during that year were Grace Poe,
Jejomar Binay,
Rodrigo Duterte,
Leni Robredo and
Francis Escudero. Moreno is among the first few candidates who settled their obligations on excess campaign donations early. Moreno's declaration was sensationalized six years later in
2022 by political rivals even though the Commission on Elections affirmed Moreno's response, stating "there are no rules requiring its disposition in any specific way", confirming Moreno did not violate any law. His term as vice mayor of Manila ended on June 30, 2016, and he was succeeded by
Honey Lacuna, daughter of his mentor Danny Lacuna.
Duterte administration (2016–2019) Moreno was appointed by President
Rodrigo Duterte and served as an external peace consultant for the urban poor of the
National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), the
Communist Party of the Philippines' (CPP)
popular front, in its
peace negotiations with the
Duterte administration in 2016 and 2017. He attended peace talks with the CPP-NPA-NDFP held in the
Netherlands,
Oslo, and
Rome as an independent observer, along with members of the
Government of the Philippines (GRP) before Duterte formally terminated the talks in late 2017. Aside from his role in the peace talks, Moreno refuted having communist ties. In July 2017, Duterte appointed Moreno as chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the government-owned-and-controlled North Luzon Railways Corporation (NorthRail). Moreno resigned from the post in October 2017, citing personal reasons. In May 2018, Moreno was appointed by Duterte as undersecretary for Luzon affairs and special concerns at the
Department of Social Welfare and Development. On October 11, 2018, he resigned from this post to run for
mayor of Manila in the
2019 election and challenge his former ally, incumbent Mayor Joseph Estrada, with incumbent Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna as Moreno's running mate. Moreno and Estrada had not been on speaking terms following Moreno's failed senatorial bid in 2016.
Mayor of Manila (2019–2022) Moreno served as the 27th Mayor of Manila—the 23rd person to hold the position—following his win in the
2019 Manila local elections, in which he defeated both of his predecessors Alfredo Lim and the incumbent mayor
Joseph Estrada. At 44, Moreno became the youngest person to become mayor of Manila since
Antonio Villegas, who became mayor at age 34 upon the death of
Arsenio Lacson in 1962. Moreno and Lim reconciled after the elections and remained on good terms until Lim's death in 2020. Moreno's first 100 days in office were met with positive response. President Duterte praised Moreno, saying: "He is better than me to be honest. I see that his resolve is stronger than mine." (far left), with his wife Dynee Ditan Domagoso (far right) as his Bible bearer beside the
Manila City Hall in July 2019 As part of his advocacy for
meritocracy, Moreno promoted several long-time, well-performing employees of
Manila City Hall and claimed he would hire new employees based on qualifications regardless of political affiliation. Moreno's term as mayor of Manila ended on June 30, 2022, and he was succeeded by his vice mayor and party-mate
Honey Lacuna.
City services and infrastructure Gazini Ganados at Manila City Hall in 2019 Moreno signed an ordinance that gives a monthly allowance of to each student of the
University of the City of Manila and
Universidad de Manila, the first in the country. The ordinance also gives Grade 12 students in Manila's public schools a monthly allowance to be received via "cash cards". Moreno also signed an ordinance that granted a monthly allowance to senior citizens, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and solo parents who reside in the capital. The elderly were also to receive and a cake as a birthday gift from the city government, on top of their monthly allowance. Moreno's infrastructure projects and beautification programs included the redevelopment of the historic
Jones Bridge, the construction of a 10-story, 384-bed building for the Bagong Ospital ng Maynila to replace the
Ospital ng Maynila Medical Center, which will be converted into the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences Campus of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila. Moreno's projects also include the redevelopment of
Manila Zoo, which reopened on December 30, 2021. Also one of Moreno's projects is the Flora V. Valisno de Siojo Dialysis Center at the Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center, then the country's largest free dialysis facility named after former mayor Alfredo Lim's grandmother. Moreno also began the construction and inauguration of Manila Islamic Cemetery and Cultural Hall within
Manila South Cemetery, the city's first cemetery exclusive for Muslims. (left) during the groundbreaking ceremony of the 15-story Binondominium Public housing for the homeless and city employees was one of Moreno's campaign promises, and his administration oversaw the construction of high-rise, in-city, vertical housing projects such as Tondominium 1 and 2, and Binondominium. In July 2021, illegal settlers and tenants from
Baseco Compound were awarded with horizontal townhouses in Manila's community housing project BaseCommunity. A second phase of BaseCommunity is planned. In 2020, as an initiative to ease the
economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic after President Duterte declared the national government was running out of funds to provide aid, the city government of Manila headed by Moreno, sold a land where Divisoria Public Market is situated, a
patrimonial property which is a part of the old Divisoria Mall, to private company Festina Holdings Inc. The decision was made after the recommendation of the city's Assets Management Committee, which was tasked with finding city assets that were "
white elephants"—unused, underused or no-longer beneficial. Divisoria Public Market has not been managed by the city government since 1992 after former mayors handed over management of the land and the market to private company Linkworld Corporation. Aside from the low monthly earnings from the lease, the city government's income from the site had been declining because of non-paying stallholders. The city government said the decision was advantageous for the city since it earned more from the sale of the Divisoria market than the rent it has earned for more than 25 years, and that the sale price of was higher than the
Commission on Audit's valuation of the property at per square meter. It was also agreed Festina Holdings will pay all required taxes after sales, including capital gains tax. Payment obtained from the sale of Divisoria market was used for erecting
Manila COVID-19 Field Hospital and 12 quarantine facilities, housing projects, procurement of
antiviral medicines, and food packs for the city's 700,000 households. From 2019 to 2020, government-owned banks
Development Bank of the Philippines and
Land Bank of the Philippines granted Moreno's request for financial loans for infrastructure projects after the assessment and approval of the
Department of Budget and Management (DBM). The City of Manila had been denied loans by government-owned banks in the previous city administrations due to a reputation of being "not bankable". In 2019, Moreno reportedly inherited a zero budget from the previous administration. After presenting his infrastructure plans, the DBM's certification to prove the city's capability to pay, and the
Supreme Court's Mandanas–Garcia ruling that entitles local government units to receive an additional budget allocation from both internal revenue taxes and national taxes starting in 2022, the government-owned banks became interested in the potential revenue of Moreno's infrastructures and the city once again became "bankable". The loans granted to Manila serve as an advance receipt of Manila's guaranteed Mandanas budget allotment, ensuring future full payment to the banks as well as the revenue that will be generated by the infrastructure assets. Moreno's 10-year infrastructure plan was apparently achieved in three years with the completion of his housing projects, new school buildings, new hospitals, and Manila's renovation and beautification programs. The city government was able to increase tax revenue collection each year from its infrastructure assets in 2019 to 2022 compared to the previous administrations, despite the pandemic, based on the
Commission on Audit's annual reports prompting the city government not to impose additional taxes on Manila residents. In March 2022, Moreno met with representatives of
Elon Musk's
SpaceX to negotiate a contract for the acquisition of
Starlink's
low Earth orbit satellite broadband internet system for the City of Manila. In May 2022, the
National Telecommunications Commission approved Starlink Internet Services Philippines' registration as a value-added service provider, making the Philippines the first country in the
ASEAN region to use Starlink's satellite and Manila the first city in Southeast Asia to acquire the service.
COVID-19 pandemic response Francisco Duque III (center) and then-
House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano (far right) during the
Ninoy Aquino Stadium COVID-19 quarantine inspection On March 10, 2020, the
Government of the United Kingdom invited Moreno to attend sessions on proper
COVID-19 response; he met with the UK's coronavirus task force officials in London. Upon returning to the Philippines, Moreno declared a
state of calamity in the city on March 15, 2020, following a directive from
Metro Manila Council, after the second and third COVID-19 cases were confirmed. From the same date, Moreno slept in his office for three months to oversee the city government's
response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 18, Moreno ordered all lodging facilities in Manila to provide free accommodations for front-line health workers such as doctors and nurses throughout the period of enhanced community quarantine. To financially help the city government employees, Moreno drafted a resolution ordering the release of their mid-year bonuses. Another resolution appropriating funds and giving cash assistance for the city's job order and
contractualized workers was also enacted. (right) inspecting the food packs to be distributed to over 700,000 families in Manila On March 19, the city deployed 189
electric tricycles to exclusively transport front-line health workers to the city's public hospitals. Drivers of electric tricycles received salaries from the city government. The city also coordinated with the
Department of Social Welfare and Development of the national government to source food supplies for the city's families. On April 5, Moreno signed an ordinance enacting the City Amelioration Crisis Assistance Fund (CACAF), allocating ( million) for around 568,000 families and distributing () to each household. A second tranche of money was given from May 20 to 21 for more than 680,000 families, some of whom did do not receive a payout from the first CACAF distribution. On March 23, 2020, Moreno launched an
online survey via his Facebook page asking Manila residents about their health status in relation to COVID-19 and their recent travel history. On April 3, 2020,
Manila City Council approved an ordinance penalizing
discriminatory acts directed against coronavirus patients and other patients under evaluation, including discrimination by health workers on the basis of patients' medical conditions. The following day, Moreno ordered the temporary closure of Ospital ng Sampaloc after five hospital staff contracted the virus. On April 6, 2020, Moreno announced he and several other government officials in the city would donate their salaries to
Philippine General Hospital to increase its financial capability amid the pandemic. The Manila city government partnered with the
Department of Agriculture to launch the
Kadiwa Rolling Store project, a mobile farmers' market that sold fresh products to residents during the closure of retail establishments due to the enhanced community quarantine. The first unit was deployed to
Santa Ana on April 6, 2020. chief implementer and vaccine czar
Carlito Galvez Jr. (right), and then-Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna (left), during the visit of the officials of the
Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) and the NTF at the
Santa Ana Hospital, Manila, inspecting its cold storage facility that can store up to 900,000 COVID-19 vaccines at a time On July 15, 2020, Moreno launched the city's drive-through testing facility, where passengers in vehicles could undergo free COVID-19 testing near
Bonifacio Shrine in Ermita. The facility was open to both residents and non-residents of the city, and was the first testing facility of its kind in the country. Three days later, the city government opened a second drive-through testing facility at the
Quirino Grandstand. The city government also built
Manila COVID-19 Field Hospital in
Rizal Park in 52 days, which began admitting patients on June 25, 2021. Moreno thanked the 362 construction workers who built the facility. Manila residents were given cash aid from the national government despite a brief dispute between Moreno and President Duterte; Moreno thanked Duterte for pushing through the aid. Manila became the first local government unit in the country to procure anti-COVID-19 medicines such as
Molnupiravir,
Remdesivir,
Tocilizumab,
Baricitinib, and
Bexovid for aged 12 and above, all of which prevents mild to moderate cases from progressing into severe diseases. Moreno said the drugs were also available to non-city residents. In October 2020, the city government of Manila was cited for and received an award from the
Department of Health (DOH) for its COVID-19 response. Moreno thanked the city's six district hospitals and Manila Health Department for their service during the pandemic. The DOH also recognized Moreno for the city achieving a 143% accomplishment rate of its child-vaccination program. Manila was the only city in the National Capital Region that was not placed under COVID-19 Alert Level 4. Manila was later included in 34th place in
Time Out list of 53 world's best cities, praising its "aggressive COVID-19 response which helped the city stay afloat". Manila was also voted the third-most-resilient city in the same survey. On July 14, 2022, the 12th City Council of Manila honored former Mayor Moreno "for his vibrant leadership that resulted to the City of Manila placing 34th in the
Time Out's list of best cities in the world".
Cleanup drive (DENR)
Secretary Roy Cimatu (far right) inspecting the different waterways in Estero de San Antonio Abad of Barangay 718,
Malate, Manila that lead to the Manila Bay Moreno oversaw the cleaning of congested streets of Manila. He ordered the clearing of informal vendors to address the city's congestion problem and waste management, leading to the stopping of extortion of vendors and the exposure of derelict heritage sites within the city. director,
Vicente Danao (left) leading the destruction of confiscated illegal
video karera (
online gambling game) machines Moreno ordered the demolition of illegally built structures, including government edifices, that impeded the movement of motorists and pedestrians. His cleanup drive of
Manila North Cemetery after
All Souls' Day garnered attention online and spurred a nationwide implementation of the same approach to city decongestion. President Rodrigo Duterte echoed Moreno's initiative, ordering the
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to "reclaim all public roads that are being used for private ends". On October 8, 2019, Moreno signed
Executive Order No. 43 mandating all 896 barangays and frontline City Hall offices to conduct a weekly clean-up drive in support of Duterte's directive to clear all public roads and sidewalks of obstructions. and the removal of dilapidated barges from the
Pasig River. He also ordered the cleanup of waters around
Baseco Compound, which took 10 days, including weekends, during which more than of garbage was collected. Under Moreno's "
May Pera Sa Basura" program, the city government launched the community-based "
Kolek, Kilo, Kita para Walastik na Maynila" waste-collection program in partnership with private firms and the
Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC). The program was incentivized, aiming to encourage residents to cooperate with the government to reduce the pollution of the Pasig River. For every of plastic wastes collected,
Unilever Philippines would exchange worth of homecare products.
2022 presidential campaign filing their Certificates of Candidacy for president and vice president respectively (right) and
Manny Pacquiao (left) during the closing moments of the 2nd
PiliPinas Debates 2022 On August 4, 2021, Moreno resigned his membership of the
National Unity Party and from his post as the party's Vice Chairman for Political Affairs to join
Aksyon Demokratiko, and on August 12, he was elected as the party's president. On September 22, 2021, Moreno declared himself
a candidate for President of the Philippines in the
2022 election, with physician and social-media personality
Willie Ong serving as his vice presidential running mate. Following the announcement, Ong left the
Lakas-CMD party to join Moreno's Aksyon Demokratiko. In December 2021, Moreno said he intended to retire in politics if he was not elected as president, and that he would rather spend quality time with his family. During Moreno's presidential campaign, he attacked mostly Vice President
Leni Robredo and her camp, beginning on October 2021 and intensifying a week before the 2022 elections. When polls showed that Moreno was trailing behind Robredo, Moreno held a press conference attacking not the frontrunner Marcos, but Robredo again. Moreno called for Robredo to drop from the race in favor of his presidential ambitions. Moreno was not elected president; he finished fourth out of ten candidates, and former senator
Bongbong Marcos was elected to the post. Moreno garnered 1,933,909 votes and conceded the election. External observers attribute the failure of his campaign to his lack of
political machinery, alleged infighting within his campaign team, disinformation against him, and minimal media coverage. An
April 17 joint press conference, at which Moreno criticized presidential candidate
Leni Robredo, was also said to work against his campaign. According to his Statement of Contributions and Expenses (SOCE), Moreno had no excess campaign contributions and donations, and spent an extra ₱1.1 million from his personal funds for the campaign. == Political hiatus ==