Eastern Visayas RDC backs Asia-Pacific mayors’ meet in Samar

PALO, Leyte, March 22 (PNA) – The Regional Development Council (RDC) has expressed support to the hosting of Catbalogan City in Samar of the United Cities and Local Governments Asia-Pacific (UCLG-ASPAC) meeting on April 5-7, 2017.

The region’s highest policy-making body has endorsed on Wednesday afternoon a resolution supporting the event and urge local chief executives to join the discussion of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, one of the highlights of the international gathering.

“It will greatly contribute not only to our disaster risk reduction and management programs, but to our tourism promotion initiatives as well,” said Tacloban City Mayor Cristina Gonzalez-Romualdez, the new RDC chairperson.

Catbalogan City Mayor Stephany Uy-Tan asked the RDC to help them in welcoming the foreign guests and ensure the safety of visitors.

“We want Eastern Visayas region to benefit from this event. Let’s make this an important event by attending, especially that we are vulnerable to natural disasters,” Uy-Tan said.

As of this week, there are already 114 foreign delegations composed of governors, mayors and key officials from 19 member countries who have confirmed their attendance in the event, according to the mayor.

“We will maximize the presence of these leaders by holding side events such as gathering of village officials to help in the localization of Sustainable Development Goals,” she added.

The Catbalogan local government also asked officials of state universities and colleges present to send their representatives to the youth conference, another side event of the international meeting.

UCLG, the only local government organization recognized by the United Nations, enlists Catbalogan as its lone local government unit (LGU) member in Eastern Visayas region. It became a member in 2015.

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 outlines seven clear targets and four priorities for action to prevent new and reduce existing disaster risks. These include understanding disaster risk; strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk; investing in disaster reduction for resilience; enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response; and to "build back better" in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

The Framework was adopted at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan on March 18, 2015.

The Asia-Pacific region has 19 member countries and they will send three representatives each country.

The UCLG ASPAC is headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia with its secretariat headed by Bernardia Tjandradewi.

Catbalogan can be reached from the country’s capital through flights from Manila to Tacloban Airport. The city is a 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)
SARWELL Q. MENIANO