Mayor Crisostomo Garbo. File photo
MABALACAT CITY — Mayor Crisostomo Garbo, along with 5 other international mayors, are now included in the rooster of city mayors in the world promoting peace.
Joining Garbo in the roster are 3 city mayors in Germany, one in Norway and one in Spain.
“In this challenging time, we should be reminded about the importance of people coming together to work for peace,” Garbo said.
This campaign is for the “Mayors for Peace”, which aims to contribute to the attainment of lasting world peace by arousing concern among citizens of the world for the total abolition of nuclear weapons through close solidarity among member cities, as well as by striving to solve vital problems for the human race such as starvation and poverty, the plight of refugees, human rights abuses, and environmental degradation.
On June 24, 1982, at the 2nd UN Special Session on Disarmament held at the UN Headquarters in New York, then Mayor Takeshi Araki of Hiroshima called for cities throughout the world to transcend national borders and join in solidarity to work together to press for nuclear abolition.
In August 1945, single atomic bombs dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and instantly reduced them to rubble, taking more than 210,000 precious lives. With more than 70 years since the bombings, many survivors (hibakusha) still suffer from the physical and emotional aftereffects of radiation.
To spread throughout the world the hibakusha’s ardent wish symbolized in the message that “no one should ever suffer as we have”, and to ensure it is passed on to future generations, Hiroshima and Nagasaki remain steadfast in their assertion to the world that nuclear weapons are inhumane and continue to call for their abolition.
Subsequently, the Cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki established “The World Conference of Mayors for Peace through Inter-city Solidarity” (now, Mayors for Peace), composed of mayors around the world who formally expressed support for this call. In 1991, the organization was registered as a NGO in Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
On August 5, 2001, the organization changed its name from “The World Conference of Mayors for Peace through Inter-city Solidarity” to “Mayors for Peace”.
Last September 18, together with the Mayors for Peace organization, Mabalacat City College virtually celebrated the International Day of Peace on the occasion of the 75th Year Anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing. The online event was graced by the Mayor of Hiroshima.
