Rex Gatchalian

Rexlon Ting Gatchalian (born January 21, 1979), also known as Rex Gatchalian, is the 26th and current Mayor of the Valenzuela and the former Representative of the First District of Valenzuela to the House of Representatives of the Philippines.^[1][2] He is also the younger brother of former mayor and now Senator Sherwin Gatchalian.

In 2005, he was elected President of Waterfront Hotels and Casinos, the country's largest Filipino-owned first class hotel operator. In the 2007 elections, the people of the 1st District of Valenzuela City elected Gatchalian as the Representative for the 14th Congress of the Republic of the Philippines, making him one of the youngest members.^[3] It was also during his first term as Representative that he was elected as the National Spokesperson for the political party Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC).

In the national election of May 2010, Gatchalian was re-elected as Representative of the 1st District of Valenzuela for the 15th Congress by a resounding majority vote of his constituents. He registered the largest electoral margin for the said position in Valenzuela's history. At the age of 31, he became the youngest member of the Commission on Appointments in history, and the only Congressional Representation from the City of Valenzuela to be part of the said powerful institution.^[4] He also serves as the Senior Vice-Chairperson for the Congressional Committee on Games and Amusement.

In March 2016, the Office of the Ombudsman ordered the dismissal of Mayor Gatchalian, and 6 city and fire department officials for grave misconduct and gross neglect of duty, in connection with the Kentex slipper factory fire in May 2015. Gatchalian, responded that he secured a TRO from the Court of Appeals against the order.^[5]

Educational background

He graduated Cum laude in 2001 from George Washington University, Washington D.C. United States of America, with a degree in Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in Political Science, with secondary fields of study in Marketing and Psychology.

Legislation

In 14th Congress, as Vice-Chairperson of Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs in the House of Representatives, Gatchalian authored Republic Act 10022, also known as "An Act Amending RA 8042, otherwise known as the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipino Act of 1995". The law mandates new policies for the further protection and genuine representation of our migrant workers.^[6]

He is also one of the principal authors of Republic Act 9576, of the law that doubles the maximum deposit insurance coverage by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation from P250,000 to P500,000.^[7]

References

External links

• 14th Congress of the Philippines