The city of Iloilo on Panay Island has won the Association of SouthEast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Clean Tourist City Award.
Iloilo City, home to the world-famous Dinagyang Festival, bagged the ASEAN award after being evaluated as one of the cleanest urban centers and top tourist destinations not just in the Philippines, but also in the Southeast Asian Region.
Known for its title as the “City of Love”, Iloilo was recognized for its initiative in the improvement and beautification of public areas and urban spaces, its conservation for the environment and natural attractions, and maintaining the cleanliness and sanitation.
Iloilo City successfully passed and complied with the ASEAN Clean Tourist City Standard’s seven indicators namely: 1. Environmental management, 2. Cleanliness, 3. Waste Management, 4. Awareness-Building about Environmental Protection and Cleanliness, 5. Green Spaces, 6. Health Safety, Urban Safety, and Security; and 7. Tourism Infrastructure and Facilities.
The ASEAN Clean Tourist City Award, a recognition to encourage ASEAN nation-members to be competitive in their tourism and marketing sectors to create jobs and push economic growth, granted Iloilo City with a badge of excellence with a validity of three years, from 2020 to 2022.
Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas shared the news on his social media on November 26, announcing the achievement and acknowledged the collective efforts of the city in Western Visayas.
“This warms my heart because having a clean city for my beloved Ilonggos and our tourists to feel safe is what I have worked hard for, for the past 5 months in office.
“We have reactivated the beautification team and task force boltahe to maintain our broken street lights and the additional personnel to help clean our city.
“We also established the green guards to protect our parks, plazas and public areas. We couldn’t have done this without everyone’s help.
“We are very proud that Iloilo City was recognized as one of the three Philippine winners of ASEAN Clean Tourist City Award.”
Treñas is set to represent the city in receiving the certificate of appreciation and a plaque with the ASEAN Clean Tourist City Label in the ceremony to be held on January 16, 2020, at The Empire Hotel & Country Club, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam.
Other Philippine cities have also been recognized because of the talents, skills, and efforts the Filipinos shared in their communities.
The “Queen City of the South”, Cebu City, was recently hailed as a Creative City of Design by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
In 2017, the “City of Pines”, Baguio, became the first city in the Philippines named UNESCO’s Creative City under Crafts and Folk Arts category.
SEND congratulations to the people of Iloilo City for their collective efforts to showcase the beauty of the Philippines!
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