THE Dutch municipality of Haarlemmermeer has reportedly cut off its 33-year sisterhood ties with Cebu City, citing concerns over the latter’s connections with Russian cities and the move to expand collaboration with China.
The move includes severing the delivery of humanitarian aid to Cebu City.
In a press release sent to SunStar Cebu, Haarlemmermeer council member Jordy Schaap of the Forza! The Netherlands party pointed out Cebu City’s sister-city relationships with Vladivostok and St. Petersburg in Russia, as well as statements made in 2023 by Councilor James Anthony Cuenco about strengthening ties with Russia and China.
Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera, chairperson of the City’s Sister Cities Commission, said in a text message to SunStar Cebu on Monday, March 24, 2025, that she has yet to confirm the dissolution of the sisterhood ties with Haarlemmermeer.
“If it’s true, I will be sad because Haarlemmermeer has been the city’s sister city for more than 30 years,” she said.
Cuenco, in a separate text message to SunStar Cebu on Monday, refused to comment, citing that he has not been the commission’s chairman
since 2023.
Meanwhile, the Office of the Mayor has yet to issue a statement on the matter, citing diplomatic concerns.
Schaap has been known to oppose sister city agreements that involve development aid and has been pushing to cut ties with Cebu City since 2010. However, last year the sentiment gained traction among other members of the Haarlemmermeer municipal council.
With tensions high in Europe regarding Russia’s war with Ukraine, Schaap argued that continuing the relationship with Cebu City was no longer justifiable.
Although a majority of Haarlemmermeer councilors initially voted on June 20, 2024, to extend the agreement with Cebu City until 2028, Mayor Marianne Schuurmans later proposed terminating the ties after reviewing Schaap’s concerns.
“It is undesirable to maintain a friendship with the Cebu City Government at this time. They have very explicitly chosen the Russian side, and that is difficult to explain,” Schuurmans stated in her proposal.
While her initial plan allowed for humanitarian aid to continue through the Haarlemmermeer-Cebu Friendship Band Foundation, councilors from the liberal VVD Party and Forza! The Netherlands pushed for a complete phase-out.
The final vote — 26 in favor, 13 against — led to the termination of all aid programs by June 2025.
This decision marks the end of the foundation’s work in Cebu, which has supported education, cultural exchanges and small-scale development projects for impoverished communities since 1992.
“Of course, we are very disappointed with the result,” said Henk Koning, chairman of the Friendship Band Foundation, in an interview with Dutch newspaper HCNieuws. “A lot has been achieved through knowledge transfer, exchanges and small-scale projects that have truly improved the lives of many in Metro Cebu.”
The decision comes as Cebu City continues to maintain international partnerships, including those with Russian cities, at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions. / EHP