Metro Manila Mayors, MMDA Officials Conclude Productive Study Visit to Berlin

Metro Manila officials and Chargé d’Affaires Lillibeth V. Pono of the Philippine Embassy in Berlin (second row, extreme right) with Professor Dr. Georg Milbradt (third row, fourth from right) and Konrad Adenauer Foundation officials. (Berlin PE photo)

BERLIN 05 November 2018 – Officials from Metro Manila and the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) recently completed a productive visit to Berlin, where they observed and studied the German capital’s best practices on urban management.

The delegation, led by Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, included local chief executives of the cities of Caloocan, Las Piñas, Mandaluyong, Muntinlupa, Pateros and San Juan, and MMDA General Manager Jose Arturo Garcia Jr. 

The visit started with an official welcome reception in honor of the delegation held at the Philippine Embassy in Berlin on 20 October 2018.

In her remarks, Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Lillibeth V. Pono expressed gratitude for having been given the honor to organize the delegation’s visit. They were then given a comprehensive briefing on Philippine-German relations, the Embassy’s functions, and the State of Berlin.

The highlight of the study visit was a special briefing held on 23 October 2018 organized by the Embassy and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS).

In his speech, KAS Deputy Secretary General Dr. Gerhard Wahlers underscored the Foundation’s longstanding partnership with the Philippines.

An informative presentation on the German federal system was delivered by State of Saxony former Minister President (equivalent of governor) Professor Dr. Georg Milbradt, who also shared his experience as a former state chief executive particularly his expertise on fiscal matters. 

Dr. Milbradt encouraged the Metro Manila officials to carefully study the systems of government of various countries and develop a system that would best serve the interest of the Philippines and the Filipino people.

He added that for a federal state to succeed, it must be able to offer benefits to its component political entities such as security and economic incentives, which the latter would have difficulty achieving as an independent state.

The latter part of the visit was devoted to tour of Berlin’s water treatment plant and waste-to-heat facility, and the EUREF Campus, a testing site for new transportation (such as autonomous vehicles and electric vehicle charging facilities), energy generation and building technologies, which the delegation looked into potential technological solutions to Metro Manila’s problems. END

Metro Manila officials at the Ruhleben waste-to-energy facility (left photo) and the EUREF Campus (right photo). (Berlin PE photo)

Metro Manila officials being briefed on Berlin’s water and sewerage system at Wasserwerk Friedrichshagen. (Berlin PE photo)

For more information, visit www.berlinpe.dfa.gov.ph / www.philippine-embassy.de or https://www.facebook.com/PHinGermany.