‘World tour?’: Isko gets invite to visit Europe, Russia, New Zealand

MANILA, Philippines — First-time Manila mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso was recently invited to visit Europe, Russia and New Zealand, following the courtesy calls of the respective foreign envoys to his office.

On Tuesday, Russian Ambassador Igor Khovaev invited Moreno to visit Moscow, Russia in October for an energy summit.

The Manila Public Information Office said the Russian diplomat enumerated “some similarities and challenges faced by Manila and Moscow in terms of energy, healthcare, traffic and social services.”

On Wednesday, two more foreign ambassadors paid courtesy calls to Moreno. These are European Union Ambassador Franz Jessen and Ambassador David Strachan.

Stratchan is the 10th foreign envoy to have a meeting with Moreno.

Foreign ambassadors of the following countries also visited Moreno:

• US

• UK

• Japan

• Panama

• Saudi

• Israel

• Singapore

For his part, Jessen invited Moreno to visit Europe to observe the best practices of European cities.

"Kahapon Russia, ngayon EU. World tour, ha? Basag pa ang bagang ko niyan," Moreno, who had a dental surgery said in jest.

(Yesterday Russia, today EU. World tour, huh? My wisdom tooth is even broken.)

In a separate interview, Moreno also shared that Strachan invited him and some representatives of his administration to visit New Zealand to study and train their disaster risk reduction strategies.

According to the mayor, Strachan shared New Zealand also experiences various disasters such as earthquakes.

“We want to offer assistance in the area of disaster management to your city. We want to invite your disaster agency to a short-term course for senior officials dealing with disaster risk management. All expenses to paid by the [New Zealand] government,” the Manila PIO quoted Strachan as saying.