A gateway to the northern province, Gatchalian debunks claims that the city is too far from Manila to be the center of the industry action, saying that Valenzuela City's strategic location to bigger markets has made it an ideal spot for commerce. These bigger markets, he says, include Quezon City, Makati City, and Caloocan City. Businessmen can source their raw materials in Valenzuela, he says.

"[But] most of our consumers are from Metro Manila although numerous workers from the north are employed in our city," Gatchalian says. Investors are also scampering to locate their factories in Valenzuela because the value of the property there is cheaper compared with other cities. For instance, Gatchalian says, the property in Valenzuela is 30 to 40 percent cheaper than QC.

Business in Valenzuela is thriving. The city registered an additional 1,000 small and medium-sized industries for this year, 39 of which are manufacturing firms. However this is is still far from the 8,000 registered last year, with no record of any closure.

"Valenzuela is home of several industries... we have sari-sari stores and trading companies...these industries include packaging, beauty products, beer, canned goods, corrugated products just to name a few," Gatchalian says.

The San Miguel Brewery, CDO, Splash, Pure Gold, Uratex, Rebisco, Bestank, and Plastimer are among the big manufacturing firms in the city, but the biggest investor so far for this year is SM, which is set to open a mall here by November.

Almost all of the businesses in the city are locally-owned. Gatchalian says that if there were foreign investors they usually have local partners.

And with a big pool of labor force from the city's estimated 600,000 population, Gatchalian's dream might not be that unreachable after all.

Ball of thread


Likening Valenzuela to a ball of thread that he is slowly untangling, Gatchalian is not a stranger to the fact that convincing businessmen to invest in his city is a difficult task. He admits that primarily the political turmoil besetting the country is "the only major stumbling block" he sees toward the anticipated progress, adding that "if our macro economy is stable, every city or municipality will benefit from the growth of our economy."

But this finance and operations management graduate is undaunted by these issues. Having managed several companies including a family business, the 31-year-old mayor's top priority is to put his house, that is the city hall, in order to gain and keep not only the investors' trust and confidence but most especially his constituents.

"My vision is to be able to professionalize our city hall employees and deliver excellent service to our constituents. I have to go back to the basics and restore the credibility of our government. We have to eliminate corruption and professionalize our city hall. That's our way of providing incentive to our business sector to invest and expend in Valenzuela," he says.

Gatchalian is one of those who believe that eliminating red tape and eradicating graft within the city will further encourage businessmen to invest in Valenzuela. He is eyeing computerization of the whole city hall as a means of addressing these problems. He hopes that the computerization of the city hall's system will also boost the local government's tax collection.

Last year, a Trade and Industry Council in Valenzuela was created under an executive order, which serves as a venue for businessmen to air their concerns. Among its members are the local business clubs.

"This encourages the businessmen to coordinate with us. We also plan to create a business directory to know the place where they [buyers] can source their raw materials in Valenzuela. We will also try to make an investment code. Also, if you put up a shop in Valenzuela you might get certain incentives," he says.

The problems in his own backyard such as the city's narrow streets, infrastructures, traffic, graft and flood however are big threats in his bid to make Valenzuela the center of commerce in the country.

"We hope to build more roads and a bridge to connect western and eastern parts of Valenzuela and improve the flood control system (of the city)," he says.

As for the peace and order, Gatchalian laments that although well-equipped there are not enough police to protect its people.

"We currently have 270 policemen. Divide that into three shifts, we have 90 policemen on the streets at any given time. With approximately 600,000 in population, we have a ratio of one policeman for every 6,666 residence. The US standard is one policeman for every 500 residence, clearly way below the standard," he says.

To augment the undermanned police force, he says the city can only rely on the help of the national government, from which he said he gets strong support.

Sincerity is the key

Improving the peace and order, good roads and infrastructures, people's discipline and excellent service by the local government are the key factors Gatchalian is heavily banking on to achieve the dream.