2. Wes Gatchalian
Weslie "Wes" Ting Gatchalian (born August 11, 1980)
is a Filipino politician who has served as the 27th mayor
of Valenzuela since 2022. A member of the Nationalist
People's Coalition, Gatchalian was first elected to public
office in 2013, as the party-list representative of Alay
Buhay Partylist, serving until 2016, where he was elected
as the district representative for Valenzuela's 1st district.
As a representative, Gatchalian served as House Deputy
Speaker from 2020 to 2022.
3. Gatchalian is a member of a political
dynasty in the Philippines, being the brother of
Senator Win Gatchalian and
Representative Rex Gatchalian, the latter of
whom was succeeded by Wes as mayor of
Valenzuela in 2022.
4. Personal life
Gatchalian was born on August 11, 1980 to industrialist
William Gatchalian and Dee Hua Ting. He is the
youngest of four siblings, namely Sherwin, Kenneth,
and Rexlon. The Gatchalian family identifies
as Christian with Dee Hua being a pastor and chairman
at their own church called Jesus our Life Ministries in
Barangay Maysan, Valenzuela.
He was assistant to the president of Waterfront Hotels
and Casinos, the country's largest Filipino-owned first
class hotel operator. He was also elected as president
and CEO of Wellex Industries Inc.
5. Educational Background
Gatchalian received a secondary diploma at Xavier
High School (1999), took business
administration at Bryant University (2000), BA
Honours Degree/DipHE Business and operations
management second class and second division
degree at Oxford Brookes University (2003),
master's degree at London Metropolitan University,
and took an executive course on legislation at UP-
NCPAG.
6. Political career
2007 Congressional bid
Gatchalian ran for representative of Valenzuela's 2nd
district in 2007,[4] losing to former
Representative Magi Gunigundo.
7. Representative for the 16th to 18th Congress
16th Congress
He was elected representative for the Alay Buhay Partylist in 2013.
Committee Membership:
• Chairman
• Committee on Youth and Sports Development
• Vice Chairman
• Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs
• Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Development
• Committee on the XXXI Summer Olympic Games
• Membership
• Committee on Cooperatives Development
• Committee on Economic Affairs
• Committee on Population and Family Relations
8. 17th Congress
In 2016 elections, Gatchalian was elected to his first
term as Valenzuela's 1st district representative,
succeeding his brother Win.
9. 18th Congress
On 18th Congress of the Philippines,
Gatchalian was re-elected as representative of
Valenzuela's first district for his second term
as congressman. He is one of house deputy
speakers of the Philippine House of
Representatives since December 7, 2020.
10. He authored House Bill 02313. The purpose of
House Bill 02313 is to mandate ownership
registration for all pre-paid SIM cards to stop
criminal activities through internet and
specially to stop internet trolls.[6][7] This was
vetoed by the president.
11. On July 10, 2020, Gatchalian voted to reject the
franchise renewal of ABS-CBN together
with Valenzuela's 2nd district representative Eric
Martinez and 68 other representatives.
One of his projects, the Wellness Entertain Sports (WES)
Arena in Barangay Punturin, Valenzuela, was launched
on October 7, 2021. Costing ₱310,000,000 with an area
of 1.2 hectares (3.0 acres), it has various facilities like
basketball court, badminton court, boxing ring, martial
arts room, and dance studio.[11] WES Arena is also one of
venues of Bongbong Marcos 2022 presidential
campaign.[
