Rebuilding Marikina

Before the Great Flood of Sept. 26, Marikina was one of the most dynamic and progressive cities in the Philippines.

For 17 years, under Mayor Bayani Fernando from 1992 to 1998, and his wife, Mayor Marides, from 1998 to the present, Marikina underwent a massive if an almost magical transformation.
From a sleepy town with annual income of just P80 million in 1992, Marikina became a city with a robust record income of P1.5 billion in 2008.
Before 1992, it appeared Marikina was sleeping the sleep of the dead for 362 years, despite its huge size – 2,000 hectares, twice the size of Makati, --- and proximity to Quezon City, the national capital. The pueblo that is Marikina today was visited by the Jesuits in 1630.
Marikina became a model on how to build a small village by the riverbanks into a city that is a standout for being business friendly, technologically current, environmentally sensitive, extremely peaceful, and with a remarkably effective governance.
This may explain the influx of big investors into the city capped last year by the opening of SM City Marikina. All the country’s top taipans have a factory or facility in the city. Tourists flock to Marikina although it is not even considered a tourist destination.
Parks mushroomed like sari-sari stores. Trees were being planted with precision and persuasion. Marikina was close to achieving its vision of being squatter-free, despite population hitting close to 500,000.
As Mayor Marides Fernando told the city residents in February this year, “over the past years, our city has effectively leveraged four key assets – infrastructure, innovation, human capital, and quality of place.”
Key to that achievement is a form of governance which, according to Mayor Marides, “encourages growth, embraces reform, and celebrates creativity.”

In 2003, the Metrobank Foundation cited Marikina as one of the three most livable cities in Metro Manila. In 2003, it was the third most competitive city in the Philippines and the most competitive in the national capital region, according to the AIM.
In 2006, Marikina was the most competitive metro city in the Philippines, according to again, AIM. Marikina’s next goal was to become the Model City in Competitiveness in Southeast Asia by 2015.
Marikina was well on the way to being the Philippines’ Little Singapore when a typhoon and tragedy struck on Sept. 26. Ondoy flooded most of the city, caused unprecedented devastation and loss of lives.
From the ruins of the flood, Mayor Fernando must now rebuild Marikina.


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