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The city of Batangas, a premier city in Batangas province, emerged as the global winner in this year’s We Love Cities campaign from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
In a press release, WWF said that the official announcement of the award was made online through Zoom on October 28, attended by representatives of WWF national offices and finalists from the We Love Cities campaign.
“We are overwhelmed and happy. This challenge brought us together and made us proud as citizens of our city. We want to thank WWF-Philippines for their great support and guidance throughout this challenge.
This means a lot to us, especially since the pandemic hit us. The city is doing its best to implement various initiatives and efforts. We have something new to hold onto and this is great news for all of us. This victory will inspire us to move forward and work hand in hand for this city, ”said Oliver Gonzales, Environment and Natural Resources Officer for the city of Batangas, in the press release published by WWF.
The We Love Cities campaign, which has empowered the general public globally with the opportunity to celebrate, vote and improve their city through suggestions made and directed to decision makers, is interwoven with One Planet City Challenge (OPCC) , a biennial global challenge. organized by WWF to guide cities towards more effective climate action, publicly recognizing the most ambitious cities as leaders in the field of sustainable urban development.
Batangas City and two other national finalists, Muntinlupa City and Santa Rosa City, represented the Philippines in this year’s We Love Cities campaign, WWF said.
The three Philippine cities were ranked in the Top 10, out of 54 cities in 26 participating countries around the world for the 2020 edition.
Citizens of these countries expressed their love and support for their cities with the campaign that garnered more than 1,170,000 votes across all channels, 4,600,000 interactions on social media, and a social media reach of 80,000,000.
“Our three Philippine cities that participated in the We Love Cities initiative really stepped up and did quite well, even as they were tackling the current challenges brought on by the pandemic. We are truly honored for your participation. Therefore, this We Love Cities award for the city of Batangas is particularly special. It also highlights the active engagement Filipinos have with their cities as they promote their solutions and aim to make their cities more livable, sustainable and resilient. It’s really aligned with WWF’s call: Together Possible ”, Atty. Angela Ibay, Head of WWF-Philippines Climate and Energy Program.
In addition to recognizing the importance of public participation in achieving sustainability goals, the city of Batangas aims to be the first carbon neutral city in the country by 2030 and has developed a comprehensive climate mitigation and adaptation plan to do reality this vision.
