As part of the celebration of the 25th Charter Day of Valenzuela, some 35 Valenzuelano couples tie the knot in a City-organized Kasalang Bayan at WES Events Space, Barangay Dalandanan, February 14. 

Valenzuela City Mayor WES Gatchalian led and officiated the civil wedding ceremony, witnessed by the City Council, the couples’ principal sponsors, and their families.

The City Government provided bouquets to every bride and prepared a buffet, cocktails, wines, and chocolates for the couples and their families. The City Mayor also gifted each couple an SM gift certificate worth PhP 500.

Mayor WES, before solemnizing the couples, gave advice to the newlyweds, “Kung may oras tayo sa ating barkada, sa basketball, sa trabaho, kung tayo po ay pumasok sa ganitong commitment, dapat gagawa at gagawa tayo ng oras sa ating maybahay. Iyan po ang importante sa isang relasyon.” (If we have time for friends, for basketball, for work, if we enter into this commitment, we must and will make time for our wife. That's what's important in a relationship.)

Annaliza and Edmon Vallada were one of the 35 couples who got married in the ceremony. The groom said they have been together for twelve (12) years with their two (2) children. Despite their long relationship, they decided to get married on this fateful day. “Kinakabahan ako na masaya. Nandito na ‘to eh,” Mr. Vallada said. 

Meanwhile, the City Councilors also prepared wedding gifts, with each couple bringing home a 5kg sack of rice, a bag of ham, and a gift cheque, among others. 

The Kasalang Bayan is one of the events prepared by the City Government to celebrate the City’s 25th Charter Day. Another highlight of the week-long celebration is the blessing and inauguration of the much-awaited Museo ni Dr. Pio Valenzuela in Barangay Pariancillo Villa. 

Valenzuela City was converted from the Municipality of Valenzuela into a highly-urbanized city on February 14, 1998, when former President Fidel V. Ramos signed the Republic Act No. 8526 making Valenzuela the 12th City in Metro Manila and the 83rd in the Philippines.

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