The reinstating of the sister-city relationship between Bacolod City and Long Beach, California in the Unites States is in the works.
Bacolod councilors Em Ang and Jason Villarosa, who head the delegation of MassKara dancers who performed in Long Beach during the weekend, met with Mayor Rex Richardson at the Long Beach City Hall on Monday, June 12.
Richardson wants to proceed with the sister-city reinstatement, Ang said.
Ang said she and Villarosa will be working on the requirements such as the passage of a Sangguniang Panlungsod resolution on the reinstatement of the sister-city relationship.
The Sister Cities Board of Long Beach will then draft a memorandum of understanding and set a zoom meeting with Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and Bacolod officials to finalize the agreement, Ang said.
Long Beach and Bacolod had been sister cities but it was downgraded to “friendship” city in recent years, Ang said.
The Bacolod delegation was accompanied by the officers of the Long Beach Bacolod Association led by Peter Albano Ramirez, Malou Mariano and Sheila Labayen Lanham during the meeting with Richardson.
The Bacolod delegation, which includes the MassKara dancers, were also treated by the City of Long Beach and the Port Authority to a boat cruise.
The Port of Long Beach, is the second-busiest container port in the United States, after the Port of Los Angeles, Ang said.
The port is a trailblazer in innovative goods movement, safety and environmental stewardship, she said.*