DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 08 Dec) — The City Government of Davao was gifted with two brand new Sunlong buses by its sister city, Nanning, China, a year after the renewal of the diplomatic ties between the two cities, Davao City Investment Promotions Center (DCIPC) head Lemuel Ortonio said on Saturday.
Ortonio told MindaNews that both buses were designed with “Byaheng Do30” logo and printed with Nanning’s city flower “Jaba,” known here as “gumamela.”
He said both cities have an existing sister city agreement signed in 2007 when President Rodrigo Duterte was still mayor of Davao City. It was renewed automatically after it expired in 2017.
“The sister city relationships show that Davao City is open for mutual cooperation and partnership — whether on a domestic or international level. Mayor Inday Sara (Duterte) has always emphasized that Davao City is a friend to all peace loving communities,” he added.
Mayor Sara Duterte and Nanning Mayor Zhou Hongbo (Photo courtesy of City Government of Davao)
The Presidential daughter received the buses from her counterpart, Nanning Mayor Zhou Hongbo during her trip to China for the 12th China International Garden Expo on December 6.
Ortonio said Nanning’s chief executive also visited Davao in May 2017.
The investment chief joined the Mayor in her visit to Nanning along with People’s Republic of China Consul General in Davao City Li Lin, City Councilors, and other City Hall officials.
Ortonio said he has yet to get details from the City Mayor’s Office about the buses.
A Facebook post from the City Government of Davao on Saturday said one of the buses would be for city-use and the other one for long distance travels.
Nanning, China donates buses to City Government of Davao (Photo courtesy of City Government of Davao)
“With all sister city agreements of Davao City, including that of Nanning City, we stand to benefit of learning their best practices in the fields that are common to both our cities. Also, we also have opportunities to access certain resources that the city may require. Case in point is the donation of the two buses to the City Government,” it said.
Aside from Davao, Nanning has four other sister cities – Bundaberg, Queensland in Australia, Khon Kaen in Thailand, Crema, Lombardy in Italy, and Falls Church, Virginia in United States of America.
On November 13, 2018, Duterte signed a sister city agreement with Jinjiang, Fujian province at the Fliport Hotel Jinjiang ahead of the scheduled December 18 launch of XiamenAir’s thrice weekly Davao-Jinjiang direct flights. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
