DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The City Council here successfully signed sisterhood agreements with three major local government units in the country to strengthen partnership and cooperation.
In Tuesday’s press conference, Davao City Vice Mayor Bernard Al-ag said the council has signed new sisterhood agreement to Marikina City and renewed its sisterhood to the cities of San Juan and Quezon City last week.
Al-ag said the best practices of the local government unit of Marikina City in their successful flood mitigation program “may also be applied in the city” as both cities have populated major rivers and flood-prone areas.
Aside from successful flood mitigation program, the vice mayor said the city can learn a lot from Quezon City and San Juan City’s urban development planning.
Among the programs that the city council is now looking into consideration is the Quezon City’s BALIK PROBINSYA PROGRAM which will facilitate informal settlers to go back to their respective provinces.
Al-ag is eyeing to replicate the same program to Davao urban settlers living in danger zone areas especially near the Davao River.
On the other hand, Quezon City has emulated Davao City in establishing a Public Safety and Security Command Center (PSSCC) that implements the Central 911 system.
The cities of Davao and Quezon City had been in sisterhood partnership for 25 years since 1994 while Davao and San Juan has been in sisterhood partnership for 10 years.
“With these sisterhood agreements, we build a good relationship with other cities where both of us can share best learning experiences and good practices in our respective cities,” Al-ag said.
Currently on process for possible sisterhood agreement is with the City of Manila and the renewal of sisterhood agreement with China’s Nanning City. (davaotoday.com)
