Alfredo "Fred" Siojo Lim (Chinese: 林雯洛; pinyin: Lín Wénluò; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lîm Bûn-lo̍k; December 21, 1929 – August 8, 2020) was a Filipino politician, police officer and lawyer who served as a Senator of the Philippines from 2004 to 2007, He also served as the 23rd and 25th Mayor of Manila twice: first from 1992 to 1998, and again from 2007 to 2013.
Prior to entering politics, Lim was a policeman for three decades. During the administration of President Corazon Aquino, he was appointed the Director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), serving from 1989 to 1992. In 1992, he was elected Mayor of Manila, serving for two consecutive terms. He then unsuccessfully ran for president in 1998. Two years later, in 2000, he was appointed by President Joseph Estrada as the Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
In 2001, he ran again for mayor of Manila but lost to then-incumbent Lito Atienza. In the 2004 elections, he ran for senator and won. Three years into his tenure in the Senate, he resigned in order to run for mayor of Manila, which he won and served two consecutive terms from 2007 to 2013. He then lost the 2013 and 2016 mayoral elections to former president Estrada. In 2019, both Lim and Estrada lost the mayoralty elections to Isko Moreno, who served as vice mayor during the two former mayors' respective terms.
Due to his tough stance against suspected criminals, Lim earned the nickname "Dirty Harry", and has been depicted numerous times in local action films within his lifetime.
Lim was born on December 21, 1929, at the Emmanuel Community Hospital along Calle Manuguit, Tondo, Manila, to Rosario Siojo, a Filipina with Chinese ancestry from the Siojo family of San Miguel, Bulacan. His father, Alfredo Ko Lim Sr., returned to his hometown Antique. When he was in pre-school, his mother remarried and left him at the Hospicio de San Jose. When he was in the third grade, he was put under the care of his maternal grandmother, Flora Valisno-Siojo. After his grandmother's death in 1943, he lived with his godmother, Dolores La'o-Conde.
He finished primary school as a salutatorian at the P. Gomez Elementary School in 1943. Lim graduated high school in 1948 at the Far Eastern University. He earned a degree of business administration in 1951 and a Bachelor of Law in 1963 at the University of the East. In 1981, he finished his master's degree in national security administration with honours at the National Defense College of the Philippines and pursued a Doctor of Philosophy in criminology at the Philippine College of Criminology where he graduated in 1996.
When Lim began work in the police in the 1952, one of his first accomplishments was arresting future senator Robert Barbers for illegal possession of firearms. Then Manila Vice Mayor James Barbers, Robert's uncle, tried to negotiate with Lim to release Robert Barbers without charges, but Lim nevertheless proceeded to file charges. A decorated police officer, Lim earned around 400 commendations and 40 awards. During the late 1980s, Lim helped defend the government of then-President Corazon Aquino, such as leading the retaking of government installations from military rebels during one of the 1987 coup attempts. After retiring from the police, Lim was appointed Director of the National Bureau of Investigation, where he lobbied for more funding and pay increases for agents and other employees. Since regular agents had to be fairly half of the force's positions were vacant, and there were few takers because of the low salary. Lim also lobbied for the position of special investigator which was realized to complement regular agents.
In 1992, Lim beat six opponents in the election to become mayor of the city of Manila. As mayor, he worked on a strong law and order program which lessened crime. Lim worked on some projects to improve the city's image which had been bad when he assumed office. He pushed reforms in the city government. His slogan was "Magaling na Lider, Disiplinado" (lit. transl. "Excellent Leader, Disciplined").
Lim was re-elected in 1995. During his first two terms in office, he earned the nickname "Dirty Harry" for his tough anti-crime policies against suspected and convicted drug pushers, drug runners, and the city's red light districts, among others. He founded the City College of Manila that would serve to complement Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila. It was under his administration when the Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center in Tondo was established in 1997. He resigned on March 27, 1998, to focus on his presidential campaign.
Presidential run and DILG Secretary (1998–2001)
Lim ran a failed bid for the presidency as the Liberal Party nominee in the 1998 election, garnering only 8.7% of the vote and finishing fifth in a field of eleven candidates.
In January 2000, his rival in the presidential election, President Joseph Estrada, appointed him as Secretary of the Interior and Local Government. His stint was cut short when Estrada was ousted during the second EDSA Revolution the following year.
Lim sought a comeback for mayor of Manila in 2001. However, he lost to incumbent Mayor Lito Atienza, his former ally and vice mayor.
Lim was elected to a six-year term as Senator in the 2004 election under PMP and the banner of the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP). As a senator, Lim introduced legislation to bring back mandatory ROTC, but this bill did not receive any co-sponsors.
In 2007, Lim decided to run again for Mayor of Manila. He won and defeated Atienza's son, Ali Atienza; he thus gave up his Senate seat. Shortly after assuming office, he adopted the slogan "Linisin, Ikarangal (ang) Maynila" (transl. Clean, Dignify Manila, hence the acronym LIM). He ended the ban on holding rallies at Mendiola, which was initiated by his predecessor Lito Atienza, later modifying it by allowing rallies to be held there on weekends and holidays.
On July 16, 2007, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Oscar Calderon asked him to revoke his ban to prevent militants from marching there. The PNP would recommend having protesters take their rallies to freedom parks. Calderon warned that if Lim will not change his position, the PNP will enforce the "no permit, no rally" policy. He ordered the removal of all business establishments, including bars and restaurants, in the Baywalk area along Roxas Boulevard (also another Atienza project) in an attempt to make the area a "wholesome park for everyone", with an unobstructed view of the famed Manila sunset. He claimed that many of these establishments have no business permits and were selling liquor, which is a violation of applicable city ordinances.
In December 2007, he told MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando not to conduct its sidewalk clearing operations in Manila since vendors were allowed to sell on sidewalks for humanitarian reasons. He stated: "I jokingly told Chairman Fernando that they are welcome anytime but I cannot guarantee their safety. Their problem is how they will get out."
On March 14, 2008, Lim's son, Manuel "Manny" Lim, and two other suspects were arrested in a hotel along Tomas Mapua Street in Santa Cruz, Manila, by PDEA operatives during a buy–bust operation in Binondo. Manny had in his possession 100 grams (3.5 oz) of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu worth ₱600,000 (equivalent to ₱902,795 in 2021).