The City government of Zamboanga inked a sisterhood agreement with Davao City Thursday morning at the City’s seat of government, City Hall.
Zamboanga City, Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco Salazar signed for Zamboanga City while Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte Carpio signed for Davao City.
Mayor Sara Duterte recognizes the need to establish linkage and build better connection with other cities especially here in Mindanao where both cities shares same issues and challenges.
“Because only when we commit to work together and learn from one another that we can better serve our respective constituents and in turn, help contribute to the growth of Mindanao.” Duterte said.
Both cities are eying to work on tourism, agriculture, and trade and commerce for a more sustainable and progressive future for the cities of Davao and Zamboanga.
Salazar, lauded the assistance to the city by Duterte such as the newborn screening, donation of two RT PCR machines, and the training given to the medical technologies of Zamboanga on antigen testing as the City prepares to open its own molecular laboratory.
“The continues partnership from the father to the daughter is palpable.” Salazar said.
Both administrations also prioritizes security, not only peace and development but also food security and human resources.
Present during the activity were top officials House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, Claude Bautista Governor of Davao Oriental, and Zamboanga City Officials.
The Zamboanga Davao sisterhood agreement is the fourth for Zamboanga city under the Climaco administration. The other sister cities are Guigang Municipal Government of the People’s Republic of China on October 24, 2016, Puerto Princesa City October 11, 2018, and Isabela City October 11, 2017.
Two other agreements one with Dezhou City, People’s Republic of China and Manado City, Indonesia have been proposed and on the pipeline.
The help of these sister cities are mostly technical assistance, these cities collaborate with each other virtually and exchange notes on ways to fight covid in terms of sharing best practices and lessons learned. (R.G Antonet Go)