City of Character Program

Tagaytay City became a member of the International Association of Character Cities by virtue of City Resolution No. 99-911 approved on January 3, 2000 with the goal of putting the City at the forefront of character building among local government units within the Philippines.

 On January 18, 2000, a 15-man Tagaytay Character Committee was formed to formulate and conceptualize a character program for the city of Tagaytay by virtue of Administrative Order No. 01 Series of 2000.  The committee was composed of employees from different sections/departments of the City Government of Tagaytay.

 Having prepared all the necessary requirements for launching a character campaign, The City Government of Tagaytay formally launched the City of Character Program on April 24, 2000 with a unique and meaningful program attended by the whole populace of Tagaytay, mayors and officials from nearby towns and other government officials coming from the national level.

 Three days after the launching of the Character Program, Executive Order No. 05 Series of 2000 was issued creating a permanent City of Character Committee to be known as the “Character First Tagaytay Committee”.  The said committee was tasked to implement the City of Character Program on a citywide level and to spearhead a citywide character campaign.

 In the interest of getting the whole community involved in pushing forward the character initiative started by the City Government, a Community Coalition for Character was organized and established to be the City Government’s partner/counterpart in the implementation of the Character First Tagaytay Program.  It is initially composed of PO’s, NGOs, Academe and representatives from the City Government.  Every year, more and more organizations from the different sectors become interested in taking part and actively participating in the said coalition.  Together with the City Government, the coalition is spearheading various programs and activities that are all directed towards the development of the City of Tagaytay as a true City of Character.

 Because of the uniqueness of the program, and because of the lasting societal change that could result from replicating it, many other municipalities and cities from different parts of the country became interested in forging a similar character program such as the one started by Tagaytay.  There are 33 cities and towns who have already adopted the Character Program.  Private schools from the nearby towns have also adopted this program.

 The City Government of Tagaytay hopes that more cities, municipalities and schools will follow and implement the City of Character Program so that the Philippines will truly become a Nation of Character.