OUR STORY
The official proclamation of the sisterhood between Bayombong and Gonohe.
Life is full of surprises, or so they say. I mean, who would’ve known that a humble farming community in the province of Nueva Vizcaya in the northern regions of the Philippines would one day be twinned with a humble farming community in the prefecture of Aomori in the northern regions of Japan. Surprises am I right?
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So, how on earth did something like this happen, one might ask. And, that is a good question indeed. It all began in the backdrop of World War 2; the Philippines (then a colony of the United States) was dragged into the war and was occupied by the imperial forces of Japan between 1942 to 1945. During this period of time, a Japanese soldier named Yoshio Kawasaki, was stationed as the captain and head of securing food supplies in Bayombong. As the war raged on and the imminent arrival of Allied forces in the region, Captain Kawasaki held refuge in a townhouse near downtown Bayombong. After the war, he, along with the other soldiers, were repatriated back to Japan.
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In 1974, 30 years since the war ended, in the early hours of the morning, the Tugab family was about to start their day as usual when they saw a fellow wandering around their home. Needless to say, the family was surprised when they came to learn that this man is in fact the former resident of their house. Of course, the man was none other than Mr. Kawasaki himself who by now had left the military and pursued a career in municipal politics. Inviting him in for some merienda, Mr. Mateo Tugab later introduced Mr. Kawasaki to Mr. Adriano Dela Cruz and Mr. Hipolito Mamuric Jr. the then mayor and vice-mayor of Bayombong.
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This was when the idea of forming a grassroots partnership between the two communities started to take shape. Thus, on the 22nd day of December 1983, that idea fully blossomed into the Bayombong-Gonohe Sister CIty Association. The Municipal Government of Bayombong passed a resolution affirming the relationship between the two towns earlier on February 14 of the same year.
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