First Stop Portland Presents at the 3rd League of Philippines Mayors Global Conference
Manila, November 17 – 19, 2011 Submitted by: Nancy Hales, Program Director
The weather was sunny, 83⁰F with a warm breeze - delicious by Portland’s standards. Thursday’s Philippine Star announced that US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton was also in town, promising increased US economic aid. President Obama was also in the neighborhood (Bali), meeting with Philippine President Aquino to affirm our strategic alliance. Connection between the two countries was obvious.
A guest speaker invited by the World Bank Institute, I arrived in Manila anxious to understand more about local realities before I presented the next day. As advocates for livable cities, yet grounded in very different civic realities, what can we really learn from one another?