Rex Gatchalian

Rexlon Ting Gatchalian is the current secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, coming in half a year into President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s term in January 2023. His appointment came after the first Marcos DSWD chief, Erwin Tulfo, was bypassed by the Commission on Appointments due to citizenship issues, and an OIC had to run the department.

In accepting the appointment to the DWSD, Gatchalian had to vacate his seat as representative of the 1st District of Valenzuela City, to which he was elected unopposed in 2022, succeeding his brother Weslie.

Gatchalian was considered for the social welfare post due to his well-known innovations in education, health, social services, housing, employment and economic enterprise, and disaster response services as long-time mayor of Valenzuela City, from 2013 to 2022. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Valenzuela made news for being an early adopter of contract tracing and targeted mass testing, as well as for acquiring laboratory license to do hundreds of testings a day, a service it extended to other cities.

In the 2022 campaign, Gatchalian organized major activities for the UniTeam, the banner under which Marcos and his running mate, then-Davao City mayor Sara Duterte, ran. Those activities were credited for helping increase Duterte’s popularity in the National Capital Region.

Before his three terms as mayor, Gatchalian served as representative of Valenzuela City’s 1st District from 2007-2013. His first attempt at clinching the congressional seat in 2004 was unsuccessful.

A cum laude graduate of political science from the George Washington University in the United States, Gatchalian held various corporate jobs until he was elected president of the family business, Waterfront Hotel and Casinos. He held this post until he was elected as congressman for the first time.

Gatchalian is the third of businessman William Gatchalian and wife Dee Hua Ting’s four sons. His other brothers also currently hold elective positions: Weslie as mayor of the city, and Sherwin as senator.