City of Darwin supports friendship city move Bacolod in Philippines

Darwin council is moving closer to forging a relationship with Bacolod in the Philippines, strengthening the Territory’s strong links in the region.

Darwin has a long history of mateship with people from the Philippines. Pictured here are Filipino-Darwin volunteers who collecting goods to donate to international students during the coronavirus pandemic. From left: Joy Audelie Nava, Peachy Tugano, Em Wills, Abet Tabiolo, Jurse Salandanan, Neil Sayat and Dave Jacinto. Picture: Che Chorley

Darwin is moving closer to forging a special relationship with an Asian city.

Darwin councillors voted on Wednesday evening to pursue a ‘friendship-city’ relationship with the city of Bacolod, in the Negros Occidental in the Philippines.

If the strategic ‘friendship-city’ partnership is deemed successful after two years, the two cities will formalise relations as ‘sister-cities’.

The proposal has been in the works since July 2022 and received the endorsement of the council’s Sister-City Advisory Committee and the NT Consulate General of the Philippines, Januario John R. Rivas AM.

“Since 2012 to present, the City of Bacolod and the Province of Negros Occidental have established strong links with Darwin and with the NT government,” Mr Rivas wrote in a letter to the council’s International Relations manager.

Darwin mayor Kon Vatskalis said the arrangement would be mutually beneficial, as it could provide opportunities for investment in Bacolod, while helping to fill labour shortages in Darwin.

“We need a lot of workers. They’ve got a young population that speaks good English. So we can actually draw workers that we need from there, especially the hospitality industry,” he said.

City of Darwin Mayor Kon Vatskalis. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

Situated in the northwest of the Philippines, Bacolod is notable for its lucrative sugar plantations and the annual MassKara Festival, known as the “festival of smiles”, where performers wear vibrant smiling masks.

Council will need to consider how well Bacolod fits into their criteria for establishing international friendship relationships.

This will involve an assessment of existing people to people relations, Bacolod’s gross domestic product, along with its growth rates, academic organisations, and innovation.

Independent Darwin councillor Amye Un sits on the Sister-City Advisory Committee and said the arrangement needed to prioritise local traders.

“We have to look after the domestic products, like local products not industrial products,” she said.

Ms Un said she wanted the economic benefits of the partnership to filter down to people with lower socio-economic status.

“Sister-city for me is improved economy and lifestyle for the poor people,” she said.

“Don’t use the sister-city [relationship] for the rich people.”

Bacolod would be Darwin’s eighth sister-city, joining Ambon in Indonesia, Anchorage in the United States, Dili in Timor-Leste, Haikou in China, Kalymnos in Greece, Milikapiti in the Northern Territory and Denpasar in Indonesia.

The latest census data from 2021 indicates people from the Philippines constituted the largest overseas born population in the Northern Territory.

Filipino-Australian Association of the NT president Emcille Lim Wills welcomed efforts to strengthen ties between Australia and the Philippines.

“I think it’s really important that we continue to recognise and acknowledge the contribution of Filipino people here in Australia,” she said.

Ms Wills said there was a long history of Filipino people coming to Australia, from pearl divers in the early 1900s, to 457 Visa workers and international students today.

In 2021, the two nations celebrated 75 years of formal mateship.

“We have a lot of international students here who want to study, continue their studies here, and after that, not leave Australia but continue after they graduate to contribute to the Australian economy,” she said.

John Rivas has supported the move for Darwin to build strong ties with a city in the Philippines.

Darwin has long played an important role in fostering closer ties to Asia, as the closest Australian city to the region.

Asia-Pacific Development Diplomacy and Defence Dialogue executive director Melissa Conley Tyler said Australia sometimes looked “further afield” when seeking international engagements, but it was important to maintain links with the neighbouring Asia region.

“Darwin is a really important gateway for Australia to really connect with the region around us. I think there’s more of that outward facing Asia focus,” she said.

Ms Conley Tyler said sister cities played an important role in promoting cultural exchange and giving local traders access to new economic markets, while creating new opportunities for dialogue beyond diplomacy.

“Having a whole range of different connections is actually very important for Australia. It’s not all about government,” she said.

“Anything that connects Australia with the fast growing dynamic economically vibrant countries in Asia is good for Australia.”

Correction: An earlier version of this story said City of Darwin was looking to formalise a sister-city relationship with the city of Bacolod. That was incorrect. The council has supported forming a friendship city relationship with the city.