Baby A is loving mom to her Kabalenyas

MANILA, Philippines - Rose Marie “Baby” Arenas may be unopposed in her bid for the congressional seat of the Third District of Pangasinan, but she hits the ground running and is unstoppable in winning the hearts of her kabalenyas.

Never one to sit on her laurels, she is seen in almost all of the fiestas of the 304 barangays in the district. On a busy day, she has to travel through six towns of vote-rich Pangasinan attending up to 20 events.

It is her daughter, Rep. Rachel Arenas, the incumbent for two terms now, who made sure that her congressional office maintains a close and personal relationship with the people. During her term, she has generated unprecedented growth in the district, something that was never achieved before. With progress and prosperity, peace in the community has come naturally in the erstwhile hotbed of Pangasinan politics. Rep. Rachel has decided not to run, giving way to her mom.

As Rep. Rachel marks new beginning in her political career, she vows to continue to be a partner to her mother in serving the district. In fact, she always reminds her constituents, “I am not only leaving you in good hands, but in the best hands.”

The hectic campaign doesn’t distract Baby from fulfilling her other social and civic commitments. Aside from being a philanthropist, civic leader and writer, she is a sought-after public speaker. In one of her recent speaking engagements, she addressed surgeons and other medical practitioners from all over the country as guest of honor and keynote speaker of the 2013 Midyear Convention of the International College of Surgeons (Philippine Section).

In the said forum, she talked about the future of medical tourism in the country and its phenomenal growth as a global industry. She stressed that medical tourism is not about offering cheap health services but to integrate health and happiness as a total healing package, capitalizing on our world-class health care providers, unique brand of hospitality, and tourism values.

Baby is not only mother to Rep. Rachel, with whom she serves the district, she is also considered “ina ng tersero distrito” and her daughter as their “kapatid, kapuso at kapamilya.”