Valenzuela City Mayor Sherwin T. Gatchalian’s more than a decade of commitment to education and community development has been recognized by the country’s most prestigious search for young men and women between 18 to 40 years old and instated him as The Outstanding Young Men 2011 (TOYM) Awardee for Public Service.

Mayor Gatchalian’s belief, advocacy and conviction of “changing lives” are well-encapsulated in the 2011 TOYM Theme: “ServExceLead…Creating Meaningful Lives for Others.”

This prompted the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jesse M. Robredo, Synergeia Foundation Board of Trustee, Prof. Solita Monsod and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Milwida M. Guevara, and Chairman and Founder of Gawad Kalinga, Mr. Antonio Meloto to nominate the three-termer Chief Executive Officer of Valenzuela City.

“An outstanding public servant, an accountable government official, an advocate of quality education, a strong believer of the potentials of the youth and a staunch supporter of good governance, all of these sum up what Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian is.  A testament to the JCI Creed. The very essence of an Outstanding Young Man,” the Honorable DILG Secretary aptly said in his Nomination Statement.

Mayor Gatchalian’s return to the country as a young corporate executive after his studies in the United States became the genesis of his commitment to public service through philanthropic via his own WIN Action Center Foundation.

He brought this advocacy to the 12^th Congress as Representative of the 1^st Congressional District of Valenzuela from 2001-2004.  Untilhe was elected Mayor, and had the power to execute projects and the opportunity to change the lives and the future of the youth for the better, he established the WIN ang Edukasyon Program to oversee the development and improvement of the education system in Valenzuela City.

This resulted in the improvement of the quality of students which placed Valenzuela City as Number One in the National Capital Region in the National Achievement Test (NAT) for Elementary for the School Years 2009-2011 and 2010-2011.

And, having a heart that goes for the poor and the needy, he understands the plight of the informal settlers.  He was the first to fight for in-city relocation for the families displaced by the Northrail project, knowing how much impact forced migration has to families.  After Typhoon Ondoy hit the country in October 2009 and left destruction to close to 2,000 Valenzuelano families, he initiated the first and the only housing project in the country specifically intended for the Ondoy victims dubbed as “Disipina Village.”

Mayor Gatchalian is currently the Vice President for the NCR of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP), the national association of cities and the Chairman of Sectoral Committee on Infrastructure Development of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

His efforts in transparency and good governance made Valenzuela City the Best Governed Highly Urbanized City by the DILG and one of the Business Friendly Cities in the country for the year 2011 by The World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, placing fourth in the Ease of Starting a Business, sixth in the Ease of Dealing with Construction Permits and first in the Ease of Registering Property out of 25 Cities and 183 economies compared.

Spearheaded by the Philippine Jaycees, the TOYM Foundation and the Gerry Roxas Foundation, the TOYM was established in 1956.  Past TOYM luminaries include the best in different fields in the Philippines, such as, the late Sen. Benigno S. Aquino who was also awarded under the category of Public Service, economist Sixto K. Roxas, peace advocate Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, and internationally renowned journalist Maria Ressa.