Chairperson of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board and Politician (born 1971)
Maria Rachel "Baby" Jimenez Arenas
is a
Filipina
businesswoman and politician currently serving as the
House of Representatives
of the
Philippines
from 2007 to 2013 and again since 2022. She previously served as chairperson of the
Movie and Television Review and Classification Board
(MTRCB) from 2017 to 2021. She was the first woman Representative of
Pangasinan
, followed subsequently by her mother, the noted
Manila
socialite and philanthropist
Rose Marie J. Arenas
. Her chairmanship of the board was confirmed by the
Commission on Appointments
on January 20, 2017.
[1]
She also currently serves as a member of the Board of Governors of the
Philippine Red Cross
.
[2]
Early life
[
edit
]
Arenas was born Maria Rachel Jimenez Arenas in
Malasiqui
, Pangasinan to parents
Rose Marie Arenas
and Ramon Arenas, a Makati businessman with ties to the shipping industry. Her maternal grandparents were Alfredo Jimenez, an accountant at the
Bureau of Internal Revenue
(BIR); and Remedios Bosch, an opera singer and a music professor at the
University of the East
(UE). While her grandmother on her father's side was Dona Julieta Hofilena Lopez, of the affluent Lopez clan in Iloilo.
[3]
Prior to her election to Congress, she worked under two Presidential administrations; from 1992 to 1998 under President
Fidel V. Ramos
and from 1998 to 2001, with President
Joseph Estrada
(1998-2001). She also worked in the Media Affairs Bureau of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Foreign Affairs, held concurrently by then,
Teofisto Guingona
, from 2001 to 2003. She also held various positions in other agencies, as Special Assistant to the General Manager of the National Development Company and the Business Development Manager of the National Maritime Equity Corporation.
Education
[
edit
]
Arenas finished elementary and secondary education at
Colegio San Agustin
in
Makati
. She graduated from the
De La Salle University
with a degree in AB Political Science earning an Academic Excellence Award for Outstanding Thesis. She took up further studies at the Institute of Politics of the
John F. Kennedy School of Government
in
Harvard University
in 2003 and at
Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
at
Tufts University
in Boston, USA, in 2004.
Political career
[
edit
]
Arenas ran a successful campaign as a member of the
House of Representatives
.
[4]
She was set to run unopposed in the
2013 elections
but gave way to her mother now-Deputy Speaker Rose Marie Arenas.
[5]
She was the first woman to be elected as Representative of the Third Congressional District of Pangasinan. While in office, she developed numerous infrastructure projects in the Third District, in particular the building of farm-to-market roads, bridges, school buildings and civic centers.
During her tenure, agriculture capacity increased after the installation of irrigation systems in 6,000 hectares of farmland. She was responsible for concretising and asphalting more than 30,000 kilometres of road; and the construction of five main bridges that connected different barangays and towns to each other: the San Vicente-Pogo Bridge in the municipality of
Calasiao
, Ican-Bugtong Bridge and Pamaranum Bridge in the Municipality of Malasiqui and San Vicente and Calvo Bridges in the Municipality of
Bayambang
. She also oversaw the rehabilitation of river banks, construction of proper drainage systems, and clearing waterways to alleviate the District's long-time flooding problem.
She was made the chairperson of the House Special Committee on Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN growth Area (BIMP-EAGA)
[6]
and authored House Bill No. 4363, calling for the creation of the Southern Palawan Special Economic Zone and Freeport Authority to boost economic growth in the East Asean Region.
[7]
Arenas also authored and sponsored national bills that called for social justice, empowerment of the marginalized, and the improvement of basic services, such as health, education and livelihood. In line with combating corruption in President
Benigno Aquino
’s “Daang Matuwid” she authored HB 2471 seeking the protection, security and benefits of
whistleblowers
.
[8]
In the
15th Congress
, she would go on to oversee the establishment of a Provincial Information and Communications Technology Hubs (HB 4066), and the creation of a Department of Overseas Workers (HB 4408). She also authored the Service to Pay Act, the house resolution calling for the punishment of grain hoarders, the house bill calling for the creation of a Magna Carta of Agricultural Development Workers,
[9]
and an act calling for the freezing of prices of basic commodities during calamities.
She was also honored as the Most Outstanding Congresswoman of 2007, during her first term in the House of Representatives.
[10]
Arenas was nominated as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men and Women (TOYM) of 2011.
[11]
In 2013, she launched a project, the Education Leadership Training in partnership with the
Foothill College
of Silicon Valley which provided training and skills-building workshops in information and communication technology that would benefit more than 3,000 public school teachers, for which she was accorded by Foothill College, the honor of naming after her the said international program, R.A.C.E. or Rachel Arenas Collaborative for Excellence.
[12]
Chairperson of the MTRCB
[
edit
]
Arenas is the 15th and seventh woman chairperson of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) which is composed of 30 board members and a vice chairperson and is mandated to regulate and classify motion pictures, television programs, and publicity materials among others.
[13]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Ranada, Pia.
"Rachel Arenas is new MTRCB chairperson"
.
Rappler
. Retrieved
January 26,
2020
.
- ^
"Philippine Red Cross | Humanitarian Organization in the Philippines"
. Retrieved
January 26,
2020
.
- ^
"Julieta Hofilena Lopez"
.
geni_family_tree
. Retrieved
February 2,
2020
.
- ^
"Sun.Star: Arenas claims win in Congress race"
.
GMA News Online
. Retrieved
January 29,
2020
.
- ^
"Arenas in Congress: "Same-same", but different ? Sunday Punch"
.
punch.dagupan.com
. Retrieved
January 29,
2020
.
- ^
"House of Representatives"
.
www.congress.gov.ph
. Retrieved
January 29,
2020
.
- ^
"House of Representatives"
.
www.congress.gov.ph
. Retrieved
January 29,
2020
.
- ^
"House of Representatives"
.
www.congress.gov.ph
. Retrieved
January 29,
2020
.
- ^
"House of Representatives"
.
www.congress.gov.ph
. Retrieved
January 29,
2020
.
- ^
Villarica, Rep. Linabelle Ruth.
"17th Congress First Regular Session H.R. 759"
.
congress.gov.ph
.
- ^
"Monastery rises on a Pangasinan farm"
. May 11, 2011 – via
PressReader
.
- ^
"Partnering for the Future: Foothill College Program to Train Thousands of Teachers in the Philippines | The League for Innovation in the Community College"
.
www.league.org
. Retrieved
January 29,
2020
.
- ^
"Movie and Television Review and Classification Board"
.
midas.mtrcb.gov.ph
. Retrieved
January 29,
2020
.