Cebu City, Haarlemmermeer renew sisterhood agreement

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City and the city of Haarlemmermeer in The Netherlands will renew their ties as sister cities in a simple ceremony at the social hall of the legislative building tonight.

The renewal of ties comes in time for the 20th anniversary of the sister city partnership between the two cities next year.

Haarlemmermeer Mayor Theo Weterings is in the city together with some of his officials to also visit the various projects the city initiated in different places here, even outside Cebu City.

Weterings inspected the equipment Haarlemmermeer donated to the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation, including a fire truck, a rescue truck, an ambulance and one command vehicle.

He will also inspect some 300 sets of computers donated to different partner non-government organizations and the Gawad Kalinga houses built by the Dutch youths last July and financed by the Haarlemmermeer government.

Haarlemmermeer also donated several medical equipment to the Cebu City Medical Center.

To make 20th year anniversary of the sister city relationship more colorful, Weterings had decided to send a team to drive a fire truck all the way from Haarlemmermeer City to Cebu City through Germany, Russia, Mongolia, China and then to Manila.

From China, the fire truck will be shipped to Manila where ERUF officials and personnel will be waiting to escort the Dutch delegation to Cebu City through a land trip.

“It will be a trip of more than 15,000 kilometers through different countries of Europe and Asia,” Weterings said.

Weterings said his intention is to create awareness by attracting the media, embassies and other interested parties about the benefits of having a sister city relationship. The two cities forged ties in 1990.

“I firmly believe that our sister city relation will continue far into the future,” Weterings said. — Rene U. Borromeo/JMO   (FREEMAN NEWS)