The Makati City government on Friday announced it has donated a total of 31,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to five local government units as part of its sisterhood program.
“We have prioritized our sister-cities and municipalities in offering free COVID-19 vaccines. We aim to help them bounce back from the crisis and contribute to national economic recovery,” city administrator Claro Certeza said.
Last Wednesday, Makati released 13,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Batangas province where Vice Governor Mark Leviste personally attended the turnover ceremony.
Makati also released 2,000 doses to the City of Malabon on Thursday.
Certeza said their administration had released 5,000 doses to Urdaneta, Pangasinan, 1,000 doses and syringes to Cuenca, Batangas, and 10,000 doses to Batac, Ilocos Norte.
He pointed out that over the years, Makati has been prompt in giving every possible aid to sister cities and municipalities seriously affected by typhoons, floods, earthquakes, and other calamities.
“As our partners in nation-building, their rapid recovery is crucial to sustaining our mutual cooperation, which aims to drive sustainable and inclusive socio-economic growth both at the local and national levels,” he said.
Based on the records of the International Relations Department, Makati has a total of 549 sister LGUs to date. The city also has sisterhood ties with 23 foreign cities and municipalities, many of which were formalized during the administration of former Vice President Jejomar Binay.
In previous years, Makati has been able to extend various forms of assistance to disaster-stricken sister localities throughout the country.
In 2020, Mayor Abigail Binay ordered the deployment of the city’s disaster response vehicles and equipment to Bauan, Batangas to assist thousands of evacuees from localities affected by the ongoing eruption of Taal Volcano.
These included a super tanker, a chemical fire truck, two penetrator fire trucks, two advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) vehicles, a mobile clinic, a mobile shower and Portalet, a vacuum tanker, and two mobile kitchens.
The city government also donated P17 million in financial assistance to sister localities affected by Typhoon Tisoy. The recipients include the provinces of Quezon, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Albay, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate, Sorsogon, and Northern Samar.
Various localities in Mindanao that were hit by a series of earthquakes in October 2019 also received some P24 million in financial aid from Makati.
Among them were LGUs in North Cotabato and Davao del Sur, including the provincial governments.
In 2017, some 27 sister localities directly affected by Typhoon Nina received a total of P15 million in financial assistance from the city.
The beneficiaries were from the provinces of Quezon, Albay, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, and Marinduque.
In 2008, some 90 localities devastated by Typhoon Frank received relief assistance from the city, which appropriated P10 million for the purpose.
In the same year, Makati distributed relief goods to families housed in evacuation centers in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte and Sarangani, after they were forced to leave their homes because of a spate of attacks led by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels.