Former Vice President and senatorial aspirant Jejomar Binay, together with the Makati City local government, announced on Monday, Jan. 31, the distribution of over 34,000 COVID-19 vaccines to cities and provinces near Makati through their "Sister Cities" initiative.
Ex-VP Binay and Makati City Administrator Claro Certeza turned over COVID-19 vaccines donated by the city government of Makati to officials of Malvar, Batangas and Meycauayan, Bulacan.
Both provinces are among the sister-local government units (LGUs) that have accepted the vaccine donation offered by the city. To date, a total of 34,800 doses have been distributed to seven sister cities. These also include Urdaneta, Pangasinan; the province of Batangas; Malabon; Cuenca, Batangas; and Batac, Ilocos Norte.
The sisterhood program of Makati was launched during the mayoralty of former Vice President Binay which, over the years, has extended various forms of assistance to sister LGUs throughout the country.
During Mayor Abby Binay’s term, the city sent financial, relief and technical aid to localities hard-hit by disasters such as the residents of Bauan, Batangas during the Taal Volcano eruption last year, the donation of P17 million in financial assistance to sister LGUs devastated during Typhoon Tisoy in 2019, and P24 million to sister LGUs in Mindanao hit by strong tremors.
According to Binay and the Makati city government, the Sister Cities program now covers 549 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 Binay.