Catbalogan City cites gains from hosting Asia-Pacific mayor’s meeting

TACLOBAN CITY, March 4 (PNA) – The city government of Catbalogan in Samar cited the benefits of hosting the United Cities and Local Government Asia-Pacific (UCLG ASPAC) executive bureau meeting to the entire Eastern Visayas region.

The international event to be joined by 300 local chief executives and other key officials from 19 countries will be held on April 5-7, 2017 in Samar’s capital city.

Catbalogan Mayor Stephany Uy-Tan said this was an opportunity for the region to show its tourism destinations and opportunities for potential investments.

“We want to show to the international community that a small city from a province in Eastern Visayas can be a host to big events like this. Through this, we can establish ties with foreign and national officials for future international and national gathering relative to development partnership,” Uy-Tan said.

The city government has invited all governors and mayors in the region to attend meetings, interact with local chief executives from other countries, and learn from them. 

The meeting seeks to gather important sector of society and solicit their commitments through declarations, workable actions, policy proposals, and projects to support Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

The gathering, according to the mayor, also aims to solicit commitments of local governments and cities for the full implementation of Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction in local levels.

Another expected outcome is the higher level of awareness among local government officials on issues related to SDGs, urban agenda, financing and local economic development.

Catbalogan is the lone city member of UCLG-ASPAC in Eastern Visayas and one of the few in the Philippines. It became a member in 2015.

Participating countries are China, South Korea, Taiwan, New Zealand, Kiribati, Salomon Island, Betio, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Maldives.

UCLG-ASPAC is the regional section of the UCLG, a worldwide association of local government organizations that dates back to 1913. 

It is also the only local government organization recognized by the United Nations (UN) and nominates 10 out of 20 members of first advisory body of local authorities affiliated with the UN.

Uy-Tan said that all member local governments were interested to come to Catbalogan that was why no other areas signified their interest to host the event. 

Catbalogan can be reached from the country’s capital through flights from Manila to Tacloban Airport. The city is two-hour drive from the regional capital. 

The small city, which is 750 kilometers south of Manila, is the provincial capital of Samar province, which is connected to the island province of Leyte via the picturesque San Juanico Bridge, crossing the San Juanico Strait, the narrowest strait in the country.(PNA)
RMA/SQM/LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA/EGR