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In 2001,Gatchalian was elected to the House of Representatives of the Philippines. After one term in Congress,he was elected mayor of Valenzuela. During his term as mayor,Gatchalian ended the city's garbage woes and oversaw the clearing operations in the aftermath of Typhoon Ondoy. He also implemented a number of education programs,[1] the establishment of the Valenzuela City School of Mathematics and Science,and the accessibility to tertiary public educational institutions in the city,among others.
After serving as mayor of Valenzuela for three terms,[2] Gatchalian ran again and was elected as 1st district Representative of Valenzuela in 2013. His return to the lower house saw Gatchalian try to implement some of Valenzuela's education reform initiatives[3] with the filing of House Bill No. 5905,or the Free Higher Education Act.[4][5]
Gatchalian then ran for and won a position in the Senate during the 2016 elections with his campaign around the promise of passing the Free Higher Education Act.[6] In early 2017,the Senate passed the Free Higher Education Act,[4] which Gatchalian co-authored and co-sponsored. President Rodrigo Duterte signed the measure into law as the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act (Republic Act No. 10931) in August 2017.[7]
In addition to being chairman of the Senate Committees on Energy and Economic Affairs,he also authored a number of key measures that have been passed into law,including the Murang Kuryente Act,[8][9] Electric Cooperatives Emergency and Resiliency Fund Act,[10] the Energy Virtual One Stop Shop Act[11] the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act,[12] and the Mobile Number Portability Act.[13][14]
In 2022,Gatchalian ran for re-election and was elected to the Senate for his second term,placing fourth in the polls.
Early life and education
Gatchalian was born to industrialist William Gatchalian and Dee Hua Ting. He is the eldest of four siblings,including namely Kenneth,Rex,and Wes Gatchalian. The Gatchalian family is of Chinese descent[15] and identifies as evangelical Christian,with Dee Hua being a pastor and chairman at their own church,Jesus our Life Ministries in Barangay Maysan,Valenzuela.[16]
Gatchalian finished his elementary and secondary education at Grace Christian High School in the 1980s[17] in Quezon City and graduated with a degree in Finance and Operations Management from Boston University in 1995.[18]
Representative of the 1st District of Valenzuela (2001–2004)
In 2001,Gatchalian was elected as member of the House of Representatives for the 1st district of Valenzuela. He is the first representative of the district following its establishment in 1998. However,he chose not to seek re-election to run for mayor of Valenzuela in 2004.
Mayor,Valenzuela (2004–2013)
During his nine-year tenure as local chief executive,Gatchalian revolutionized good governance in the City Government of Valenzuela through reforms which eradicated corruption,fostered growth in the local business sector,and improved the provision of social services in education,health,in-city housing,and other key areas.[23][24][25][26] Gatchalian acknowledged that his style of governance as mayor is based on the practices employed by the Marikina government,which he once observed for two weeks.[27]
Gatchalian developed city infrastructure operations for both citizens and enterprises. In 2008,he opened the government-funded P90-million Lingunan-Lawang Bato.[28]
Gatchalian at the 3rd Alliance of Batangas Educators and School Administrators in 2012
Representative of the 1st District of Valenzuela (2013–2016)
When Gatchalian returned to the Lower House in 2013,he filed education reforms to increase the number of math and science high schools across the country and to establish a nationwide school-based feeding program for kinder and elementary students across the country. On July 6,2015,he filed the original version of the bill that revolutionized access to college education for millions of Filipino—the House Bill No. 5905,[36] An Act Providing for Full Tuition Subsidy in State Universities and Colleges (SUCs),more commonly known as the Free Higher Education Act,that translated into the current law Republic Act No. 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act. He also supports the implementation of K–12education in the Philippines as an investment for the future of younger generations.[37]
Some of his other proposed bills during this term include acts regulating parking fees in malls and commercial areas,[38] including ROTC among the prerequisites for tertiary level graduation,[39] increasing the budget for NAIA to transform its global image,[40] abolishing the Road Board (a government agency that handled motor vehicle users' tax and road users' tax),[41] protecting passengers against abusive and itinerant taxi drivers,[42] for the declaration of candidates seeking to profit from election polls as nuisance candidates,[43] as well as a proposed bill requiring proofs of parking space to car purchasers as a means to lessen traffic congestion.[44]
Senator (2016–present)
In June 2015,in an event in Quezon province,Gatchalian announced his bid for a Senate seat in the 2016 general election. In October 2015,senator and presidentialcandidateGrace Poe announced her senatorial slate under the coalition Partido Galing at Puso which included Gatchalian.[45] Gatchalian eventually won,receiving 14,953,768 votes[46] and placing 10th in the senatorial race. He challenged then-incoming President Rodrigo Duterte to make education reform a top priority of his administration.[47]
In October 2021,he filed a certificate to continue his term as a Senator.[52] Campaigning for education reform,he won his re-election bid and placed fourth in the polls. He is now serving as Senator of the 19th Congress. His priority bills include the Teacher Salary Increase Act,Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program Act,K to 12 Review,21st Century School Boards Act,Waste-to-Energy Act,Midstream Natural Gas Industry Development Act,Energy Advocate Act,Energy Transition Act,SIM Card Registration Act and the Internet Transactions Act.
Some of the significant laws Gatchalian passed include the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act,the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law,the Ease of Paying Taxes (EOPT) Act,the Extension of Availment of Estate Tax Amnesty Act,Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Registration Act,the Free Irrigation Service Act,the Masustansyang Pagkain para sa Batang Pilipino Act,the Electric Cooperatives Emergency and Resiliency Fund Act,the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018,the Philippine Identification System Act,the Mobile Number Portability Act,the Energy Virtual One-Stop Shop Act,the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act,the Rice Trade Liberalization Act,the Philippine Innovation Act,the Student Fare Discount Act,and the Murang Kuryente Act.
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