The City Government of Valenzuela headed by Mayor WES Gatchalian solidifies its partnership with Ormoc City, Leyte through a sisterhood agreement signed at Valenzuela City Hall, September 8, 2022.

Valenzuela City Mayor WES Gatchalian and Ormoc City Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez formally signed a sisterhood agreement to manifest their mutual desire to improve and support each other’s efforts in learning and implementing best practices for their respective cities.

On August 2, 2022, Ormoc City Council approved Resolution No. 2022-033, Series of 2022 entitled “A Resolution Earnestly Expressing the Desire of Ormoc City Government to Establish a Sisterhood Relationship with Valenzuela City and Requesting the Sangguniang Panlungsod and City Mayor of Valenzuela City to Enter into Sisterhood Agreement with Ormoc City” and on August 23, 2022, Ormoc City Council then approved Resolution No. 2022-047 entitled "A Resolution Granting Authority to the City Mayor, Lucy Torres Gomez to Enter into and sign the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for and on behalf of the Local Government Unit of Ormoc (LGU-ORMOC) with the Local Government Unit of Valenzuela City represented by Honorable Weslie T. Gatchalian, City Mayor on the Establishment of Sisterhood Relationship Agreement between Ormoc City and Valenzuela City".

In line with the above-mentioned Ormoc City Resolutions, the City Council of Valenzuela approved Resolution No. 2566, Series of 2022 entitled “A Resolution Signifying the Interest of the City of Valenzuela to Establish a Sisterhood/Twinning Negotiation and Relationship Agreement with the City of Ormoc” which embodies the said sisterhood agreement between the two cities. The resolution signifies the mutual interest of Valenzuela City and Ormoc City to create a fruitful sisterhood relationship with each other, especially on establishing areas of collaboration for mutual benefit on matters relating to culture, commerce, environmental, tourism, and education industry.

Valenzuela City Mayor WES Gatchalian delightedly welcomed the guests saying “Tuwang-tuwa ako dahil hindi ito and unang beses na kayo ay bumisita dito sa Valenzuea City, this is the second time and this doesn’t happen often, pinapakita lang nito kung gaano kaseryoso ang Ormoc City para matuto sa ating mga best practices dito sa Valenzuela.” [I am very happy because this is not the first time that Ormoc City visited us here in Valenzuela, this is the second time and this doesn’t happen often, this just shows how serious they are in learning our best practices here in Valenzuela.] He further said “Valenzuela is not perfect, it’s just that nagtutulungan kami dito kasama ang mga opisyales at department heads, all our projects here are 20 years in the making and we are just blessed with more than 15,000 factories that give us local revenues. It’s vision and political will that matters and I hope that we learn and adapt from each other’s practices, again, we are very honored to be your sister city.” [Valenuela is not perfect, it’s just that we, together with other city officials and department heads work together. All our projects here are 20 years in the making and we are just blessed with more than 15,000 factories that give us local revenues. It’s vision and political will that matters and I hope that we can learn and adapt from each other’s practices, again, we are very honored to be your sister city.]

In her response, Ormoc City Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez said “We are very delighted to become a sister city of Valenzuela because this is the place which sparked our goal of creating a beautiful community college in Ormoc. When we first came here last July, we saw your college and we were very impressed, it was so beautiful and we realized it was something we needed in Ormoc.” [We are very delighted to become a sister city of Valenzuela because this is the place which sparked our goal of creating a beautiful community college in Ormoc. When we first came here in July, we saw your college and we were very impressed, it was so beautiful and we realized it was something we needed in Ormoc.] She then emphasized that “The problem with benchmarking is that we can’t copy these projects from apple to apple because we don’t have the same budget, pero hindi kami takot mangarap, when we plant seeds, it grows and it turns into a beautiful reality. I am very happy that a simple benchmarking turned into a community college and now turns into a sisterhood agreement.” [The problem with benchmarking is that we can’t copy from apple to apple because we don’t have the same budget, but we are not afraid of dreaming, because when we plant seeds, it grows and it turns into a beautiful reality. I am very happy that a simple benchmarking turned into a community college and now turns into a sisterhood agreement]

Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez together with Congressman Richard Gomez and other Ormoc City officials and department heads visited Valenzuela Polytechnic College (ValPoly) and the Main and Annex Campus of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela and had a dialogue with the college officials for benchmarking purposes.

Present during the Sisterhood Signing event were Vice Mayor Lorie Natividad-Borja, Councilors Ramon Encarnacion, Chiqui Carreon, Niña Lopez, Mickey Pineda, Louie Nolasco, Marlon Alejandrino, Gerald Galang, Ricarr Enriquez, and Sel Sabino-Sy.

Also present during the event were Liga ng mga Barangay President Councilor Jonjon Bartolome, SK Federation President Councilor Goyong Serrano, other barangay officials and city department heads from both Valenzuela and Ormoc City.

The sisterhood agreement officially made Ormoc City, Leyte as Valenzuela City’s 75^th Sister City.

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