Cebu City-Brisbane sisterhood pushed

CEBU, Philippines — A sister city relationship between Cebu City and Brisbane in Australia is expected soon following the visit of Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama to Australia.

Rama was in Australia last week to attend a summit together with the officials of League of Cities of the Philippines and was officially back to work yesterday.

In a press conference held at Cebu City Hall yesterday, Rama said among those that he brought up with Brisbane City Mayor Adrianne Schrinner was the intent of establishing a sisterhood with Brisbane.

"Then I offered him, I would like to have a sister city relationship, Do you have one? Then he cannot remember one," said the mayor recalling the conversation he had with Brisbane mayor.

According to Rama, Brisbane and Cebu City has four commonalities, namely, of having been a port city; in terms of technology; culture; heritage, and Brisbane as a Smart City that can be a strong ground for innovation sharing.

According to Rama, he was able to personally witness the said technology that is a waste collection system that could potentially be placed in South Road Properties (SRP). It is a technology that vacuums the garbage straight from the house going to a certain disposal site.

"You don't see any more trucks collecting (the garbage) because every building is connected to that so-called waste collection site," said Rama.

During the press conference, Rama said there is already an ongoing preparation of the sisterhood agreement in which he is set to sign. It will be then sent to the City of Brisbane that will be followed by a meeting.

Aside from this, the mayor has also casted its "unofficial bidding" to host the 2025 Asia Pacific Summit and Mayor's Forum.

"It was being highlighted by the mayor, after that Brisbane, it will be somewhere else, and I was already telling them, I showed them Singapore-like, I showed them Cebu City at night, I showed them also the narrative of Cebu City, then I told them just letting you know, how ready we are to host," said the Mayor.

In line with this, Rama, however, said that he will be needing everyone's help to realize this vision adding that he cannot do it alone.

The mayor's visit to Brisbane, Australia was declared “official” that he defined yielded a “good news” since Cebu City was able to ink a widened connection.

Apart from this, the city mayor has also invited the higher-ups of Brisbane including the Filipino communities in the city to grace the upcoming Sinulog 2024. — (FREEMAN)