Rama heads to Sabrosa, Portugal

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City and Sabrosa City in Portugal will finally formalize sisterhood ties through an agreement that aims to promote tourism and strengthen the partnership of both cities.

Mayor Michael Rama along with Philippine Ambassador to Portugal, Philippe Lhuillier flew today to Portugal for the signing of the sister-city agreement and will be coming back next week.

The mayor said he is looking forward to the cultural, economic and educational exchanges once the relationship is made formal.

The Cebu City Council approved the sister-city agreement with Sabrosa last Feb. 28.

The agreement primarily hopes to strengthen the friendship and mutual understanding between the people of Sabrosa and Cebu and to develop exchanges between the two cities, particularly in the areas of trade, tourism and education.

This agreement with Cebu City will be the first sister-city agreement of Sabrosa which has a population of around 8,000.

The mayor of Sabrosa City, Jose Manuel de Carvalho Marquez, in a letter to Rama, seeks to establish ties through an agreement, saying Sabrosa wants Cebu to be part of its worldwide network of cities as it was part of Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition.

Cebu has already established sisterhood relationships with Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands; Kaohsiung City, Taiwan; Yeosu City, South Korea; Xiamen, China; Honolulu City, United States of America; Chula Vista, California, USA; Seattle City, Washington, USA; Paramata, Australia; Kitchener, Canada; Salinas City, California; Kortrijk, Belgium; Vladivostok, Russia; Barcelona, Spain; Brisbane, Australia and Rio de Janiero, Brazil. — Kristine B. Quintas/ATO (FREEMAN)