Cebu, Quezon sign sisterhood agreement

MANILA, Philippines - Cebu is now the first sister province of Quezon in the country.

This was realized when the two provinces signed a sisterhood agreement coinciding with the 134th birth anniversary of the late former President Manuel L. Quezon last Aug. 19.

The two provinces expressed their willingness to establish ties for a long-lasting friendship and for the change of initiatives and experiences in areas of mutual interest such as public governance and the promotion of commerce, investments, culture and tourism.

Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia was invited by Quezon Gov. David Suarez in the culminating activity of the weeklong celebration of Quezon’s birth anniversary and for the signing of the sisterhood agreement.

Garcia said the two provinces has had connections since the time of Quezon as his vice president, Sergio Osmeña, hailed from Cebu.

Suarez’s mother also hails from the northern Cebu town of Daanbantayan.

For her part, Garcia invited officials of Quezon province to join the “Suroy Suroy Sugbo Northern Escapade” next month.

Suarez said he has the highest regard and respect for Cebu for being one of the top-performing provinces in the country.

He said he chose Cebu to be the first sister province of Quezon as the former is the only province that met his “standards.”

“We see similarities and parallelisms between our provinces and we hope that we can learn from the best experiences of Cebu and the good practices that they have implemented,” he said.

Suarez congratulated Garcia for bringing Cebu to greater heights and expressed his full support for Garcia’s Senate bid.

“We, local government officials and those in the grassroots level, need somebody up there in the Senate who understands what is happening in the ground,” he said.