Representatives of the City Government of Borongan receive an ICLEI membership plaque from ICLEI Southeast Asia last April 15, 2026 during the fellowship night for SIRA fellows. (L-R) Ricardo Marfiga Jr., ICLEI SEA Membership, Governance, and Circular Economy Manager; Errol P. Buenconcijo, Agriculturist II of Borongan City; Engr. Diane Apura, Engineer I; Cynthia Arceno, Borongan City Cooperative Officer; and Victorino Aquitania, ICLEI SEA Regional Director.
ICLEI Southeast Asia (SEA) recognized the City Government of Borongan in the Philippines as one of its active, longstanding members by presenting a membership plaque received by the city’s representatives.
Engr. Diane Apura, Engineer I; Cynthia Arceno, Borongan City Cooperative Officer; and Errol P. Buenconcijo, Agriculturist II of the Borongan City local government unit (LGU) received the plaque last April 15, 2026 during the fellowship night for fellows of the Socially Inclusive Resilience Leadership Program under the Enhancing Local Capacities in Socially Inclusive Resilience in Asia (SIRA) Project. The gathering was part of the International Conference on Local Equitable and Inclusive Resilience (ICLEI-R) held in Baguio City.
Arceno and Buenconcijo are both fellows of the SIRA Project.
ICLEI SEA awarded the membership plaque as part of a series of activities for its 21st anniversary celebration, including recognition of its members.
Borongan City has been involved in notable ICLEI projects over the years, starting with the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN) from 2012 to 2016 as one of the 15 project cities in the Philippines, under which cities were assisted in developing plans for sustainable development, poverty alleviation, and climate resilience, and the ICLEI-ACCRN Guide and Toolkit was refined and tested.
Aside from the ongoing SIRA Project, the city was also part of the Climate Resilient Cities (CRC) and Enhanced CDRA and LCCAP Development for Philippine Cities from 2023 to 2024 and the CRC Nature-based Urban Resilience Through Unifying and Responsive Engagement (CRC-NURTURE) Project, which has just concluded last March 2026.
As the capital of the Eastern Samar Province, the city’s commitment to pursuing renewable energy (RE) and the just energy transition was also key in the RE-Start Campaign Year 2 (Y2) of Oxfam Pilipinas from 2022 to 2023, under the technical implementation of ICLEI Southeast Asia. From the RE-Start Campaign Y2, the Proposed Renewable Energy Roadmap for Eastern Samar document was produced.
Borongon City continued to be a part of the RE-Start Campaign Year 3 (Y3) from 2024 to 2025, which aimed to encourage the local governments of the Province of Eastern Samar, City of Borongan, and Municipality of Dolores to integrate and allocate resources for their renewable energy plan/roadmap by developing and enacting local renewable energy codes and investment plans. By December 2024, the city had established its Just Energy Transition Multi-Stakeholder Committee (JETMSC).
The city was also involved in a regional research on “Unraveling Urban Resilience Using City Preparedness Index: Scientific Evaluation Method for Developing Policy and Action Networks,” led by Kobe University in Japan, with ICLEI SEA as one of the collaborators.
