The recent signing of the Sister City Agreement between Davao City and Mati City proves one thing: despite differences in economic standing, these cities can benefit both in terms of local tourism.
Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte and Mati City Mayor Michelle Nakpil Rabat signed the Sister City Agreement on March 29, 2023, at La-Nes Hotel, Mati City. Both leaders are optimistic on the partnership and cooperation in the areas of environmental protection and conservation, heritage preservation, and culture, agriculture, and eco-tourism.
Councilor Al Ryan Alejandre, committee chair on tourism and beautification and one of the delegates during the signing representing the tourism sector, told Edge Davao that both cities can take advantage in terms of tourism.
“In terms of tourism, it is very advantage kay if they have some visitors going to Mati, maka -benefit ang City of Davao when they go back to their places, muagi man sila ug Davao as gateway. For so long, naa naman gyud partnership na na-form with Mati and Davao. We’ve work together with them. As mentioned by Mayor Michelle Rabat, long-long time na gyud ang Davao City nagatabang sa Mati City. So ang ilahang ma-offer is their beautiful natural resources ang ilahang ma contribute sa atoa ug kung naa pud ta’y guests from Davao City we could also promote Mati City as one of the destinations,” Alejandre said.
During the signing of the agreement, Mayor Duterte said that Mati City is close to his heart because he also lived in this city for a while.
“Duol sa akoa ang Mati Kay ganahan ko sa lugar, buotan ug maayo ang katawhan,” Duterte said.
Travelers go to Mati City for its mixture of natural wonders, featuring several well-preserved white sand beaches and a premier location for a lot of water sports activities such as skimboarding, surfing, diving, and snorkeling.
Mati City is popular for Sleeping Dinosaur, Pujada Bay, Dahican Beach, Subangan Museum, and many more.
With the inclusion of Mati City, Davao City has already established sister city agreements with 16 cities all over the country.
For Asian countries, Davao City has a sisterhood agreement with Nanning City, Jinjiang City, and the municipality of Chongqing in China; Kitakyushu City in Japan and Bitung City and Manado City of North Sulawesi in Indonesia while in the United States, the city’s twin sisters are Tacoma in Washington and County of Kaua’i in Hawaii.
