Guam, Philippines share long history of sister cities

About two dozen municipalities, mainly from the region, have partnered with most of Guam’s villages throughout the years to form sister-city relationships.

The bond is meant to be mutually beneficial as the two cities from different nations share business, cultural and educational ideas. The relationship is often established through an agreement with elected officials, such as mayors.

For Guam’s sister-city relationships, villages have been able to exchange ideas and best practices in aquaculture and agriculture, said Mayors’ Council of Guam Director Angel Sablan. They’ve also blossomed, he said, to cultural and student exchanges as well as sports tourism.

“The Philippine individual municipality sister cities began in 2009 with the Municipality of Laoac, Pangasinan and Baguio, Benguet,” Sablan said in an email. “Many more municipalities endorsed the concept of sister-city relationships after the municipality of Olongapo and Subic paid a visit to Guam and visited with Gov. Eddie Calvo and the Mayors' Council of Guam.”

While individual municipalities in the Philippines began partnering with Guam’s villages to form sister cities in 2009, Sablan said local and Philippine officials had first begun entertaining the idea back in 1973. At that time, he said, mayors and Sangguniang members — Filipino councilmen — had been inviting each to their municipalities to share ideas in agriculture.

“There are numerous municipalities in the Philippines from far north, to include the Municipality of Tuguegarao to the south in Iloilo City to central Luzon, that have established sister-city relationships with different municipalities on Guam,” Sablan wrote in the email.

Mayors visiting their sister-cities in the Philippines came under fire in recent weeks as Sen. Mike San Nicolas, D-Dededo, revealed the Mayor’s Council has spent nearly $50,000 on travel expenses this year.

The council’s latest travel record showed that teams of village mayors attended festivals in the Philippines in recent months. As many as a dozen mayoral officials participated in the trips, most of which lasted a week.

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The most expensive outing was a $19,6000 trip for eight mayors, Sablan and three mayors’ staffers to attend the 2017 Strawberry Festival in Benguet, Philippines in March. Sablan, another six mayors and one staffer recently went to the 25th Anniversary of the Guimaras Provincehood and the 2017 Manggahan Festival, at a cost of nearly $15,000.

The Pacific Daily News asked the Mayors’ Council’s for travel expenditures for visiting sister cities since fiscal 2014. Sablan on Thursday said his office was still compiling the list, but as of Friday it hadn't been completed.

During a budget hearing at the Legislature earlier this month, Sablan told the Committee on Appropriations that although certain mayors attend their sister-city’s events, their counterparts will come to Guam this summer to attend the annual Liberation Day Parade, as they also did for the recent Mango Festival in Agat.

Sablan also told lawmakers that he only goes on the trips because he’s asked to attend.

“I don’t control ... the mayors, as far as them accepting applications to their sister cities. That’s their own decision. When I go, it is because it’s at their request. I don’t go on my own,” Sablan said.

Guam’s sister-city relationships, he said, go back many years and include almost every village on island.

Most of the village’s sister cities are in the Philippines, but other locations — Amagasaki, Japan and Taipei, Taiwan — have partnerships on island, according to Sablan.

The city of San Pedro, Laguna in the Philippines has the most partnerships on island, having sister-city relationships with 13 villages.

Eleven of Guam’s villages are currently in sister-city relationships with Olongapo City in the Philippines. Other Philippine cities such as Baler, Baguio City and Roxas City also have a handful of partnerships with Guam villages.

Agana Heights currently has the most sister-city relationships on Guam, having partnerships with nine cities in the Philippines, including San Pedro, Cabatuan, Iloiolli City and Malolos City. Agat, Dededo and Santa Rita each have eight sister-city relationships, sharing such municipalities as Olongapo City, Oton, Cabatuan and Roxas City.

According to the Mayors’ Council’s list of sister-cities, only Chalan-Pago-Ordot and Mongmong-Toto-Maite didn’t have partnerships.

This article originally appeared on Pacific Daily News: Guam, Philippines share long history of sister cities