Valenzuela aims for cultural excellence

Valenzuela City Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian said yesterday that while the city is aiming to become a technologically advanced and globally- competitive hub for trade and industry, it is also set to carve out a name for itself in cultural excellence.

This developed as the newly created Valenzuela City Center for the Performing Arts (VCCPA), "a first step" in the realization of this vision, yesterday announced the production of its first play, a musical on the life of local hero, Dr. Pio Valenzuela.

The city celebrates the 137th birth anniversary of Valenzuela, the lesser known of the Katipunan triumvirates, together with Gat Andres Bonifacio and Gen. Emilio Jacinto, during the Philippine Revolution against the Spanish conquerors, on July 11, 2006.

But why should a local government unit the likes of Valenzuela be spending time and resources for such seemingly unnecessary endeavors when many people are hungry and out of work?

Gatchalian said that the city is keenly aware of these problems, adding officials are focused in precisely addressing them the best way they can in the face of limited resources. But he also said that responding only to this kind of need would not be enough.

"We are for the complete development of the person in our city. So, alongside the more mundane daily preoccupations for satisfying the needs of the body, we are also pushing for the refinement of the soul, particularly for the complete development of our youth through this cultural exercise. This is food for the mind and soul and we intend to invest in it," Gatchalian said.

"Madlang Away," Valenzuela’s quaint nom de guerre in contrast to Bonifacio’s "Magdiwang" and Jacinto’s "Pingkian," is a full-length musical production that focuses on the life, love and struggles of Valenzuela, a local ilustrado of Bulacan, who joined the Katipunan and co-founded the Kalayaan, the revolutionary movement’s official organ with the former two.

The play features six original songs by award-winning composer Arnel Pano.

The VCCPA, the musical producers, was created through Executive Order 2006-036 aiming to encourage the youth of Valenzuela, the country’s Hollywood of the ‘50s, in promoting and actually participating with greater interest in and appreciation for culture and the arts.

In further support for the city’s art and culture, the city government undertook a major renovation of the city’s 500-seat auditorium at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela (PLV) to serve as the VCCPA’s home base. – Jerry Botial