 |
| Laoag mayor Chevylle V. Fariñas and San Juan mayor Guia Gomez sign the sisterhood relationship agreement at the Laoag City Hall Auditorium on August 10, 2016. Witnesses for the signing included city government officials and barangay officials of both Laoag and San Juan. (Doms dela Cruz) |
By Dominic B. dela Cruz
Staff reporter
Laoag City—Two well-known cities in the country formalize their bonds through a sisterhood relationship agreement (SRA), which was signed at the Laoag City Hall Auditorium on August 10, 2016.
With both their lady mayors representing the city governments, Laoag mayor Chevylle V. Fariñas and San Juan mayor Guia G. Gomez signed the agreement with their respective department heads and punong barangays as witnesses.
Ms. Fariñas thanked Ms. Gomez for returning to this city and for bringing her whole delegation to visit Laoag. She also thanked the San Juan officials for choosing Laoag as their first sister city.
She disclosed that San Juan will always be close to her heart as her two eldest children were both born in San Juan.
In her formal speech, Ms. Fariñas reiterated that “friendship is a universal phenomenon that transcends race, religious learnings, differences and the catalyst that transforms towards one direction to achieve a common goal.”
The two-term Laoag mayor added that “the sister city relationships between the two cities is very vital and important as they both inspire and stimulate each other’s best practices and new innovations in becoming more progressive and more developed cities.”
She added that she believes in the saying, “two heads will always be better than one,” and as such she also believes that Laoag and San Juan will be great partners.
San Juan mayor reciprocates
Ms. Gomez also thanked the Laoag officials and its people for the “very warm welcome” they gave to them.
She said she observed during the tour around the city, the beauty and cleanliness of Laoag as well as its “very rich culture.”
Ms. Gomes also commended the city’s clean-and-green program for its rural and urban barangays.
Fiestas
Ms. Gomez also noted that similar to the Pamulinawen Festival, San Juan also celebrates its fiesta every June. Dubbed “Wattah Festival”, it commemorates their patron saint San Juan Bautista.
She related that the fiesta was launched during the term of her son, former San Juan mayor, now Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito.
She stressed that both cities should work together to make Wattah and Pamulinawen Festivals the best in the country.
Rain and flood
During a rainy visit to the city’s poblacion, Ms. Gomez said she was surprised because the flood on the streets were so clear compared to Metro Manila’s floodwater.
“Bakit sa atin sa Manila kapaglumusong ka sa baha natatakot ka, baka ma-leptospirosis ka; e bakit dito sa Laoag enjoy naenjoy kami habang nababasa ang aming mga paa,” Ms. Gomez quipped. “Kaya kailangan malinis din ang San Juan kaparis din ang Laoag.”
Ms. Gomez also expressed awe for she has not seen any single youth along the streets during their visit. She said this only means all the youth are in school. She added that she wants to emulate Ms. Fariñas’ secret for San Juan.
Night market
The San Juan mayor also praised the city’s successful night market. When she learned that this is being operated by the city government, she said she also wants her city government to operate a similar one.
She disclosed that although they also have night markets, these are operated by big time mall owners.
“And I want a similar night market in San Juan to be operated by the LGU”, she stressed.
San Juan’s size and history
San Juan is only 5 percent of Laoag City in terms of land area; it covers 600 hectares compared to Laoag’s 12,747-hectare area.
San Juan is the smallest city in the Philippines located east of Manila. It is historically known as the site of the first battle of the Katipunan. It is a part of Metro Manila, the National Capital Region of the Philippines.