BESAO, Mountain Province – Local officials of this fifth-class municipality will be visiting the municipality of Pugo, La Union for the formalization of their twinning relationship envisioned to boost mutual growth and development.
Mayor Johnson Bantog II said the formal signing of the sisterhood agreement will be scheduled in the municipal hall of Pugo, La Union on May 11, 2017, after the separate sessions conducted by the municipal councils of both local governments.
After the signing of the twinning relationship agreement, Bantog said municipal officials, department heads and concerned employees of Besao will update their executive-legislative agenda (ELA) and the finalize the 2018 Annual Investment Plan (AIP) prior to the passage of its budget for next year to take into consideration this new relationship.
Mayor Bantog underscored the Besao municipal government of Besao in Mountain Province is recognizes the importance of governmental and institutional partnerships and fosters bilateral development in the areas of parallel interest through sisterhood or twinning relationships with other local government units around the country.
It will be recalled that during her visit to Besao during the celebration of the town fiesta and Ubaya festival in March, Pugo Mayor Priscilla M. Martin signified the intention of the municipal government to forge sisterhood ties with Besao considering that the two municipalities are both fifth-class municipalities and their peoples have common culture and traditions, Pugo being settled mostly by people from the different parts of the Cordillera.
Mayor Bantog said the offer of Pugo government for the twinning relationship will definitely enhance the knowledge and skills of concerned officials of the best practices they can learn from their twin municipality.
He said there is a need for the municipal government to be aggressive in forging sisterhood ties with various local governments in the different parts of the country to help enhance cultural exchanges, best practices on governance and the development of programs and projects beneficial to the growth and development of the local governments.
Like Besao, Pugo is a fifth-class municipality in La Union and composed of 14 barangays with a rapidly increasing population due to the migration of highlanders to the lowlands.
Besao is located in the westernmost part of the Mountain Province. It is located 150 kilometres from Baguio City and 28 Kms from Bontoc – the capital town of the Mountain Province.
by HENT
