Filipino woman is world’s youngest city mayor

By Alex P. Vidal

 

NEW YORK CITY – At 33, Laarni “Lani” Lopez Cayetano of Taguig City, Philippines is the youngest city mayor in the world.

This was announced by her husband, Philippine Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, who is here to accompany his wife as the 6^th World Cities Summit Mayors Forum officially blasted off June 8 at the Grand Hyatt.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio welcomed delegates from around the world.

Senator Cayetano said his wife will be recognized for being the youngest elected leader of a city in the world.

“That’s why this summit is very important to us,” said Cayetano, who attended the official flag raising ceremony at the Philippine Consular General for the 117^th Independence Day June 7.

Part of the senator’s agenda is to confer with officials of the foreign affairs in relation to the Philippines’ problems with China.

 

INVITE

 

Also invited from the Philippines were Angeles City Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan, ranked as the eighth best mayor in the biennial World Mayors Project (WMP) for 2012, Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, Bacolod City Mayor Monico Puentevella, and Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, who opted to skip the event as Iloilo City prepares to host segments of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) this year.

Organizers considered New York City as “the ideal venue for critical urban conversations to take place” based on the theme of “Innovative Cities of Opportunity.”

This city has been a beacon of opportunity for generations, a cosmopolitan city of immigrants building a better life for themselves and their families.

According to organizers, New York City is many things to many people: a global hub of finance, fashion, media, culture, technology and design; an increasingly resilient coastal city; a five-borough path-work of polyglot neighborhoods and cultures; a cutting-edge center of cool.

 

UNIQUE

 

The forum brings the unique city leaders’ round-table closer to cities in the Americas for the first time, and feature special speakers and luminaries from the region, to deepen the discourse on urban solutions, encourage greater international collaborations between cities and provide opportunities to translate many of the ideas into real solutions.

The World Cities Summit (WCS) Mayors Forum is an esteemed, invitation-only round-table that brings mayors from around the world together to share best practices in urban leadership.

It is organized by Singapore’s Center for Liveable Cities and the Urban Redevelopment Authority and a flagship event of the biennial WCS, which is held in Singapore.

The next WCS will be on July 10-14, 2016.