Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama. Screengrab from Sugboanon Channel
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is on leave to attend a forum in Australia from October 11 to 13, 2023.
Rama said in a live program in Sugboanon Channel on Tuesday, that he would be leading a delegation of mayors under the League of Cities of the Philippines in activity called the Asia Pacific Cities Summit and Mayor’s Forum in Brisbane, Australia.
READ: Mayor Rama on leave; VM Garcia is acting mayor until Oct. 15
Brisbane, BRT
Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia confirmed this to CDN Digital in a phone interview on Tuesday, October 10.
Rama revealed through the live program that he was delighted upon seeing the schedule of the activity.
“Pagbasa nako sa profile sa Brisbane, naay BRT—Bus Rapid Transport system. Kana importante kaayo na for innovation sharing,” he said.
(When I read the profile of Brisbane, there is a BRT—Bus Rapid Transport System. That is very important for innovation sharing.)
READ: Mayor Michael Rama elected as League of Cities in the Philippines president
Happy city
The BRT is the transport system that the city of Cebu is anticipating as its construction is already ongoing, and its ceremonial groundbreaking took place last February 27, 2023.
Moreover, the mayor added that he also wanted to attend a topic called, “happy city” and added that he would be looking forward to attending activities in relation to culture and heritage.
When asked if Brisbane is a sister city of Cebu City, Rama said, “Not yet.”
“But why not? Let’s see how things will unfold kay apart of that naa man mi courtesy call with the mayor,” Rama said.
(But why not? Let’s see how things will unfold because apart from that we have a courtesy call with the mayor.)
To recall, the first sister city of Cebu City is the City of Vladivostok in Russia, through the Friendship and Cooperation agreement in September 2022.
On Monday, Garcia said during the flag raising ceremony, that he would be acting as the mayor until October 15 as Rama would still be on leave by then.