New Davao-Manado sisterhood described as more ‘pro-active’

BOTH the cities of Davao and Manado in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, are growing cities, hence the soon-to-be-signed sisterhood agreement between the two cities will include environment and urban management.
“The reason why we amended the sisterhood agreement before its renewal is to make it responsive to the present developments being faced by the two cities,” said councilor Rachel Zozobrado, chair of the Committee on International Relations of the City Council.
“The original sisterhood agreement signed between the two cities was in 1993, but a lot of changes have occurred almost 16 years after the signing,” she said, adding “It is thus very important to review the terms of the agreement so we can make it tailor-fit to the signs of the times.
Zozobrado said she had discussed the proposed amendments with Indonesian Consul Lalu Malik Partawana and they have agreed to come up with a dynamic agreement that will mirror the present developments in both cities.
She said that while the amendments will still be reviewed by the Committee on International Relations by the second week of August, both parties have agreed in principle to include not only Information and Communication Technology in the agreement, but also the very timely issue of environment and urban management.
“Both cities are becoming the urban centers of their regions and we would like to be able to contribute to each city’s development by prioritizing environment and urban management issues,” she said.
The reason why cities encounter problems with traffic and other infrastructure is because of the lack of planning. By incorporating environment and urban management in the sisterhood agreement, she said, both Davao and Manado recognize the need for proper planning to steer both citie’s development in the right direction.
“This is in fact a very exciting sisterhood agreement because it is more proactive and considers the future demands of both cities when it comes to growth and development,” she said.
According to Zozobrado, the Consul has been very cooperative in negotiating for the new agreement. We are confident that we have a sisterhood agreement that will be of help to both cities in the long term.