AS a tribute to their hard work and ingenuity, the 1,300 construction workers who took part in the renovation of Manila Zoo and their families were treated as VIP guests during Thursday's soft opening of the more than 60-year-old zoo now known as the Manila Zoological and Botanical Garden.

'I will first offer [the soft opening to the construction workers because they worked hard for] two years or more, almost two years. So, the construction workers first; I'm happy they had a job. The work didn't stop; they had a job for two years — I want them to enjoy it. I want them to share it with their children... I want what my children experience for their children to experience too,' Manila Mayor Francisco 'Isko Moreno' Domagoso said in English and Filipino.