Migrants made Marikina
What does it mean to be a Marikeño?
For Marikina City Mayor Marcelino “Marcy” Teodoro, there is now a wider meaning to being a Marikeño, as he qualified a person who studies, works or conducts business in the city, has discipline and good conduct can be considered a resident.
Teodoro welcomed migrants who have chosen to stay and have enriched the city in last Sunday’s annual Rehiyon-Rehiyon Festival, coinciding with Marikina’s cityhood anniversary. The mayor said the main idea to being a Marikeño revolves in loving the City of Marikina. “Some say the people of Marikina have discipline, have good habits and values the family. But what is at the center is their love for Marikina, to see themselves as being a part of this town, interacting with its people and its story,” he stressed.
Teodoro said 70 percent of the city’s residents are migrants from other provinces. “We in Marikina, an urbanized city, 70 percent of our residents are already migrants — from other provinces or regions. We celebrate life together as a community in Marikina,” he said.
Mayor Masahiro Sashimoto of Sakai City in Japan, which is Marikina’s sister city, and other delegates attended the 2019 Rehiyon-Rehiyon Festival. In fact, the Japanese official gave the mayor the necklace given to him by Pope Francis.
Sashimoto also showed off the Marikina-made shoes he was wearing to the event. Students from various schools showcased the various festival dances of several regions in the country, including those from the Bangus, Sinulog, Ati-Atihan, Kadayawan and Panagbenga festivals.
Marikina police estimated the festival crowd to number 17,000.