Rodolfo B. Valentino Sr. was a Filipino politician who served as the
mayor of Marikina from 1988 to 1992. He previously held the role as an officer-in-charge, following the
People Power Revolution in 1986. Valentino's mayoralty was characterized by efforts to revitalize the local shoe industry. He lost re-election in
1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
to
Bayani Fernando.
Life and career
Valentino was born to a shoemaking family in
Marikina
Marikina (), officially the City of Marikina (), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 4 ...
. He is a dentist by profession. Following the 1986
People Power Revolution that saw the ouster of President
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...
from office, his successor, President
Corazon Aquino
María Corazón "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipino politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines and the first woman president in the country, from Presidency of Corazon ...
, appointed Valentino as an officer-in-charge of Marikina. He would be elected in his own right in 1988. He lost re-election in 1992 to
Bayani Fernando.
In this capacity, Valentino sought to revive the fortunes of the Marikina shoe industry. During his tenure, he travelled to various countries, including China, Germany, the Soviet Union, and Vietnam. In
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...
, he was able to get a substantial order for ladies' shoes, which was filled by Figlia Shoes, a local consortium led by Joey Enriquez. He went with Trade Secretary
Jose Concepcion on a trade mission to
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
in 1989. On his second trip to Moscow the following year, he was offered a contract to supply one million pairs, which Vietnam, a fellow socialist country, could not fulfill. But the Russians could pay only in rubles. In his trip to
Wuhan
Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...
in China, Valentino explored the possibility og using rubles for raw materials.
Valentino took the risks of dealing with a socialist country. He had to deal not with businessmen but with government functionaries. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, it was clear on his third visit to Moscow that his agreement with the communist regime could not be implemented.
Following his death, Valentino was laid to rest at the
Loyola Memorial Park.
References
External links
Marikina City History
Living people
Mayors of Marikina
People from Marikina
Year of birth missing (living people)
{{Philippines-mayor-stub