Rachel del Mar

As Congressman Raul del Mar would be termed out of office with the close of the 14th Congress of the Philippines in 2010, his daughter Cutie del Mar was the popular choice to run in his place. She faced no substantive opposition from within the Liberal Party. During the election, she was opposed by Mary Ann de los Santos, a local community leader, who she defeated by close to 40,000 votes during election day.

Del Mar started co-hosting the talk show She Said, She Said in August 2008 with Jackie Aquino-Gavino, a popular TV personality and first cousin to the current Philippine president, His Excellency Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. Aside from this, she has also performed with the theater group Repertory Philippines, has done both runway and commercial modeling, and has played bit parts in both local and foreign films shot in the Philippines.

Her most recent position prior to taking her Congressional seat was as Chief of Staff to her father, former Congressman and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Raul del Mar. She held this post from July 2008 to November 2009, when she officially resigned to begin her electoral campaign.

In 2007, then President of the Philippines Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo appointed del Mar to the Board of Directors of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the country’s premier cultural institution. That same year, she was also named as one of the board members of the Philippine film and television ratings agency, the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB). Her tenure with both institutions lasted until November 2009.

Rachel "Cutie" del Mar (born November 3, 1966) is a Filipino politician served as a Congresswoman representing the 1st Legislative District of Cebu City in the 15th Philippine Congress, serving since 2010. Her main political affiliation is with the Liberals. The district is based in Cebu province, part of the country's Visayas region. She is known for her advocacies for women and children, education, and for the interests of the province and people of Cebu.