Key officials of Baguio and San Antonio, Texas formally entered into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the establishment of sisterhood ties between the two cities.
The MOA was signed by Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong and San Antonio Mayor Ronald Nerinberg during the formal signing ceremony held at Camp John hay here Thursday night.
The signing of the sisterhood agreement was witnessed by Rep. mark Go, Vice mayor Faustino A. Olowan and members of the city council and several department heads, members of the delegation of San Antonio and representatives from the United States (US) Embassy.
Under the agreement, both officials agreed to conduct research in areas that would be beneficial to the said cities; promote activities in the fields of commerce and trade, tourism, health care, education, socio-cultural, ecology and sustainability, military and emergency management; sanction other worthwhile pursuit, such as, but not limited to, publishing relations between the cities, exchanging gifts and articles of culture and informative value, promoting formal and friendly relations between organizations and clubs, schools and universities and chambers of commerce and arranging cultural and business visitations; maintain concrete liaison between the Baguio City Tourism Office and San Antonio City Global Engagement Office under the Economic Development Department for the implementation of programs between the two cities, while engaging other departments and community partners as appropriate and as for the matters not mentioned in the agreement, the two city governments will decide upon them through friendly negations under the conditions of mutual understanding and friendship.
Part of the ceremony was the formal exchange of tokens by the two local chief executives where Mayor Nirenberg handed over to Mayor Magalong a silver coin while the latter handed over to the former the key to the city made of silver.
Both cities share similar attributes in terms of tourism, trade, health care, education, socio-cultural, military and emergency management, culture and arts and governance.
Further, San Antonio was declared a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Creative City for gastronomy while Baguio City was also declared a Creative City for Crafts and Folk Arts.
For his part, Mayor Nirenberg expressed his deepest appreciation to the people and officialdom of Baguio for warmly welcoming the 25-man delegation from San Antonio and hopes that the sisterhood ties will bear fruits in the future, especially in the various fields where the two cities are known for.
Earlier, the city council passed separate resolutions that declared July 10-16, 2023 as Baguio-San Antonio Amity Week and warmly welcomed the delegation from the said city in their visit to Baguio and adopting Mayor Nerinberg as an adopted son of Baguio.
On the other hand, Mayor Magalong returned the compliment by thanking his counterpart and the San Antonio delegation for spending time to visit the city and strengthen the relationship.
Rep. Mark Go wished for the success of the sisterhood ties between the two cities to ensure that each of the local governments would gain from the said partnership. By Dexter A. See
