SOUVENIR GIFT. City Administrator Zuleika Lopez hands over a miniature replica of the Davao City Hall’s facade as a souvenir gift from City Mayor Sara Duterte to Communist Party of China International Department Minister Song Tao during the 19th council’s regular session on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at the Sangguniang Panlungosd Building in Davao City. Minister Song Tao and his group represented the Chinese government which donated $600,000.00 to the local government. The donations will be used to build classrooms for Bolton Elementary School and a water pumping facility for Baranggay Tibungco, Davao City. (Paulo C. Rizal/davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines—The government of the People’s Republic of China donated Tuesday a total of $600,000 (P30,211,800 million) to the local government of Davao City.
Mr. Song Tao, minister of International Department of the Communist Party of China said the Chinese government hoped that the donation would improve the bilateral relationship of the two countries.
“We hope through such an endeavor, to cement the friendship between our two peoples, enhance the cooperation, and boost the cohesion between our two countries in various fields to contribute to the economic, and social development of the region and of the country to deliver total benefits to the people,” Tao said.
The Chinese dignitaries arrived on Tuesday morning and were greeted by local government staff waving miniature flags of the People’s Republic of China.
Of the total amount, $400,000 or P20,135,600 million would be allotted for the construction of school facilities while the remaining $200,000 or P10,066,600 million would be used for a water servicing facility.
The city government identified the Bolton Elementary School and Baranggay Tibungco in the city’s second district as the primary beneficiaries of the aid given by China.
City Mayor Sara Duterte, through a message read by City Administrator Zuleika Lopez, expressed gratitude to the Chinese delegates and emphasized that the ties between China and the Filipino people “run deep.”
“Having been home to more than a million Chinese nationals and descendants. Davao City is proud of this friendship and history,” Duterte said.
Davao City is currently home to the only Chinatown in Mindanao, owing to an executive order signed by then mayor Rodrigo Duterte in 2003.
In his speech, Song Tao also mentioned that a Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries’ ruling parties, the Communist Party of China and the Partido Demokratiko ng Pilipinas – Lakas ng Bayan had already been signed Monday, Feb 20.
Tao, as CPC’s International Department Minister and PDP-Laban and Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III signed the MOU.
Tao said he hoped the signed MOU would usher in “a new era of institutionalized exchanges” between the two parties.
“We hope through inter-party exchanges, (we are able) to share governance experience, to promote our mutual trust and understanding, between the two parties, political organizations, civil society organizations, and people across the sectors of society, to enhance governance capability and make contribution to economic and social development of our two countries,” Tao said. (davaotoday.com)
