BALANGA City: San Juan City in Metro Manila entered into a sisterhood agreement with Bataan and a city and a municipality in the same province during a simple program at The Bunker, seat of the provincial government here, on Friday, March 14.
Mayor Francis Zamora joined the rites with other San Juan City officials composed of his vice mayor, members of the Sangguniang Panglungsod, city department heads and his sister, Rep. Ysabel Maria Zamora.
Gov. Jose Enrique Garcia 3rd with Vice Gov. Cris Garcia, members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan and department heads represented the provincial government in the signing and presentation of the sisterhood agreement.
Balanga City Mayor Francis Garcia and Limay Mayor Richie Jason David joined with their respective vice – mayors, department heads and members of the Sangguniang Panglungsod and Sangguniang Bayan, respectively, in the program.
The Bataan governor and the mayors of Balanga City and Limay were grateful to Zamora for agreeing to the sisterhood agreement, saying their local government units will learn much from the experience of San Juan.
“Ang aming pagtutulungan ay in general tungkol sa ang best practices ng lungsod ng San Juan at lalawigan ng Bataan ganoon din ang lungsod ng Balanga at bayan ng Limay. Ito ay bagay na pwede naming pag-usapan kung ano mga nakita namin gumagana at nakakatulong sa San Juan at ano rin ang mga bagay na hindi dapat gawin. So we just say best practices of what we should do or what we should not do,” Zamora said.
“Di ba kasi may mga bagay tayo na natututunan na hindi dapat gawin at may mga bagay tayo na natututunan na dapat gawin? Itong sisterhood agreement namin ay isang pagkakataon upang ang mga best practices namin ay maibahagi at matututunan so it is a give and take relationship,” he continued.
Zamora described San Juan as a safe place and the first in Metro Manila to have 100% of the barangays drug-cleared. He said that he joined PDEA and the police chief during drug raids to show residents they are serious in eradicating illegal drugs.
About the province, the mayor said he has seen how Bataan has grown as a province and they are thankful that San Juan was given the chance to be a sister of the province, also of Balanga City and the town of Limay.
“Simula pa lang ito ng mahabang pagsasama natin,” Zamora said.
He invited Bataan to set-up a “pasalubong center” at the Greenhills mall in San Juan. “Ibig sabihin ang mga produkto ng Bataan pwedeng i-promote o ibenta dito sa Greenhills mall at ganun din pwede din magset up ng mga tourism brochure.”
“So pwede kayo mag-promote ng mga resorts, ng magagandang beach na pwedeng puntahan dito para ang mga taga-San Juan ay ma-encourage na dumalaw sa Bataan,” the mayor furthered.
“Same thing sa lahat ng taga-Bataan, kung kayo ay gustong dumalaw ng San Juan, welcome na welcome kayo. Dito meron kayong mga historical sites na naging bahagi ng kasaysayan ng Pilipinas. Sa San Juan din mayroon tayong tinatawag na Pinaglabanan Shrine at El Deposito,” Zamora said.
“Ang El Deposito ay isang water reservoir na pinagmumulan ng tubig noong panahon ng Kastila so diyan nanggagaling ang tubig ng Maynila noong panahon ng Kastila. Natiyempuhan inatake ni Andres Bonifacio noong August 30, 1896 upang makuha ang supply ng tubig ng Kastila,” he continued.
“Bagama’t natalo ang mga katipunero sa pakikipaglabang ito, ito ay nagsilbing hudyat na mas malaki ang pakikipaglaban at tuluyang nagbigay- Kalayaan sa bansang Pilipinas. Iyan talaga ang ipinagmamalaki ng San Juan, ang El Deposito underground water reservoir. Of course, nandiyan din ang Pinaglabanan Shrine,” the mayor said.
“Sa tuwing may mga lalawigan, lungsod o bayan na pumapayag maging kapatid ng San Juan ay nakakataba ng puso sapagkat unang-una gusto namin matuto. Gusto namin matuto sa kapwa
namin because I believe that you can learn a lot from the best practices of other provinces, other cities, other towns and that is how we build our nation,” Zamora added. (30)
