CALAMBA CITY, Laguna – This city, the birthplace of National hero Dr. Jose. P. Rizal, has forge links with Jinjiang, China, which is said to be the origin of Rizal’s great, great grandfather named Cua Yi Lam, who migrated to the country and settled in Calamba in 1697.
In an interview with the Philippine News Agency on Tuesday, Noemi Talatala, department head of the city Information, Investment Promotion and Public Employment Services Office (IIPESO) disclosed that Calamba Mayor Justin Marc SB Chipeco ushered in the 15-man Chinese delegation which embarked on their return visit to the city early this month.
Talatala said that the official delegation came from the People’s Government of Jinjiang, Fujian Province from the People’s Republic of China (PROC), led by Vice Mayor Li Zili embarked on a historical mission and inked pact with Calamba City Mayor Chipeco.
Early this month, the Chinese delegation toured the world’s tallest Rizal Monument at the city hall plaza named in the National Hero’s honor, where the visiting officials offered the floral wreath at the base of the towering bronze-cast monument.
City officials also accompanied the Chinese delegation to the Sangguniang Panlungsod (city legislative council) where the formal signing of the letter of intent to formally establish friendly ties between the two parties was held.
Joining the official delegation were Laguna 2nd District Representative Joaquin M. Chipeco, city legislators, department heads and city hall workers.
Mayor Chipeco thanked Jinjiang officials “for embracing Rizal as its son, acknowledging the hero’s Chinese ancestral roots and thereby keeping alive the historical link between the Philippines and China,” through Rizal’s historical lineage.
The Chipecos also expressed hope that sealing the friendly pact between Calamba City and Jinjiang, China will deepen and forge better relations guided by the principles and values of Dr. Jose Rizal and pave the way for the sisterhood ties.
The city officials also thanked the Chinese delegation for the former historical delegation mission and visit to Jinjiang, China in 2016.
During the Calamba City officials’s visit two years ago, they witnessed how Jinjiang City paid homage to Rizal by erecting an 18.61 feet-high Filipino national hero’s monument, the tallest Rizal monument outside the Philippines, thus far.
The Chinese vice mayor Li Zili also thanked the city government for the warm welcome extended to the official delegation and invited the Calamba officials to visit Jinjiang in the near future to formally seal the two cities’ partnership.
In his remarks, Zili took pride in calling the Calambeños their brothers and referred to Dr. Jose P. Rizal their adopted son tracing the hero’s roots to his Chinese forebear centuries ago.
Talatala disclosed that Rizal’s Chinese ancestry was traced to Cua Yi Lam, a native of Siongque Village in Jinjiang who migrated to the Philippines in 1697, years before Calamba marked its creation as a town in 1770.
She said that Lam’s acknowledged descendant was Juan Mercado, father of Francisco Mercado who was Rizal’s father.
She also reported that Mayor Chipeco has acknowledged that the Calambeño compatriot and national hero Rizal belonged to the 23rd generation of the Cua family as the city traced his family tree to the Chinese migrant merchant from Jinjiang.
For his part, Congressman Chipeco also thanked the Philippine Consul General to Xiamen, China for facilitating the Chinese delegation visit and for the latter’s assistance to the establishment of the friendly relations.
According to city officials, Philippine Consul General to Xiamen Julius Caesar A. Flores was also instrumental in the forging of sister city ties between Calamba City and the German cities of Heidelberg and Wilhelmsfeld during the Filipino envoy’s diplomatic assignment in Germany.
The cities of Heidelberg and Wilhelmsfeld have similarly honored Rizal with the hero’s marker and monument owing to historical accounts that Rizal stayed in the two cities while studying in Europe during his time. (PNA)
