An old public plaza in Valenzuela City has been converted by the local government into a sports park to give residents a breath of fresh air through green and open spaces amid the city’s bustling factories and industrial establishments.
The 5,000-square meter Valenzuela City Sports Park has been inaugurated in Barangay Wawang Pulo in line with the commemoration of the birth anniversary of homegrown national hero Dr. Pio Valenzuela.
Mayor Rex Gatchalian led the activity and assured his constituents that "liveable city developments will continue while we wait for the day this pandemic will end."
"If Dr. Pio were still alive today and would become a public servant, he would probably dream of Valenzuela City as a progressive yet inclusive city. So our goal now is not to leave anyone behind because that's how we started. That's how Dr. Pio started," Gatchalian said in Filipino.

The sports park is funded by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) through "Green Green Green," a public open spaces assistance program which is a counterpart of the "Build Build Build" infrastructure development program of the national government.
"Now we want to emphasize that aside from factories, we also have open spaces in Valenzuela where families can bond,” Gatchalian said.
Aside from the sports park, the local government said it will also build another park in Barangay Arkong Bato, which will "complement the ongoing rehabilitation and restoration of one of the city’s major heritage icons," the notable stone arch at the boundary of Malabon and Valenzuela.