18 December 2014 - Tanauan Mayor Antonio C. Halili and Vice Mayor Jhoanna Corona visited Guam from December 12 to 17 for the signing of the Agreement on Friendship and Cooperation between their city and the village of Asan-Maina in Guam. Asan-Maina Mayor Joana Margaret C. Blas welcomed both officials to Guam and expressed optimism that the twinning agreement will foster closer relations between their respective local governments and constituencies.
The signing ceremony began with the playing of the Philippine and American national anthems followed by the Guam Hymm. Philippine Consul Edgar Tomas Q. Auxilian gave his opening remarks after which Mayor Halili and Mayor Blas proceeded with the signing of the agreement.
The City Government of Tanauan in Batangas proposed the signing of the twinning agreement with Asan-Maina as part of the year-long celebration of Apolinario Mabini’s birth sesquicentennial or 150th anniversary. Tanauan is the hometown of the Philippine national hero who is known as the Brains of the Revolution and the Sublime Paralytic while the village of Asan in Guam is where Mabini and other Filipino revolutionaries were exiled by the Americans from 1901 to 1903.
The signing of the twinning agreement was supposed to coincide with the unveiling ceremony in Asan of the new statue of Apolinario Mabini donated by First Asia Institute of Technology and Humanities (FAITH). The unveiling of the Mabini statue, created by renowned Filipino sculptor Julie Lluch, however, had to be postponed due to some procedural issues.
Philippine Consul General Marciano R. de Borja witnessed the signing of the twinning agreement that seeks to strengthen and develop greater friendly relations and people-to-people contact between the two local governments through meaningful exchanges in the areas of culture, education and sports, as well as economic development and tourism for the mutual benefit of both sides.
The signing ceremony was also witnessed by Senator Dennis G. Rodriguez, Jr. of the 32nd Guam Legislature; Mr. Juan P. Lozano, Managing Director of FAITH; the members of the Asan-Maina Municipal Council; officers and members of different Filipino organizations in Guam; several Guam government officials; and representatives from the academe.
At the end of the program, Senator Rodriguez presented Mayor Halili and Vice Mayor Corona with a legislative certificate signed by Speaker Judith Won Pat recognizing and expressing appreciation for the visit of the Tanauan City officials to Guam. END