Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella visited Xiamen City, Fujian Province, China for the Silk Road Forum on September 6 to 11, 2019. | Photo Courtesy of the Cebu City PIO
CEBU CITY, Philippines–Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella plans to name one of the streets at the North Reclamation Area after Xiamen City of China.
Labella was in a five-day trip to Xiamen City from September 6 to 11 to strengthen its sisterhood with Cebu City, which has been established in 1984. He was also there to share his knowledge in city management during the Silk Road Forum.
The mayor said that in Xiamen City, a street was named after Cebu in 2007 as a gesture of friendship. It is called the Cebu Street or Su Wu Lu.
He wanted to reciprocate the gesture by naming a street in Cebu City after Xiamen, most preferably at the North Reclamation Area, though he did not specify the particular street to be renamed.
Labella said that his visit to Xiamen City was a fruitful one as he found inspiration in their low cost housing project, which provided 60 square meters of livable space per family of Xiamen residents.
Cebu City will soon have its own low cost housing through the Gasa sa Paglaum that aims to build five-storey tenements that can house 200 families.
The P200-million budget for its pilot program in Barangay Lorega was approved by the Council on August 2019.
Read more: Cebu City plans to build tenements in Lorega that will be rent-free for 5 years
The mayor said a 60-square meter space for each family may not be achievable in Cebu City, but he found the inspiration on how they were able to make low-cost housing succeed for Xiamen City.
Aside from low-cost housing, Labella was also “astounded” at the way the Xiamen City managed its hospitals, and he invited the hospital administrators to visit the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) once it opens, so they can teach the CCMC staff how to better manage a public hospital.
“Maybe they can share to our CCMC how they manage their hospitals in Xiamen,” said Labella.
Labella said the Silk Road Forum opened his eyes to many possibilities for Cebu City, through the use of technology and better management.
He hopes to apply his learnings in Xiamen City for better services and projects for Cebu City. /bmjo