Alan Peter Cayetano
Alan Peter Schramm Cayetano (Tagalog pronunciation: [kajɛˈtano]; born October 28, 1970) is a Filipino politician and diplomat serving as the Representative of Taguig–Pateros's 1st district since 2019, and previously from 1998 until 2007. He was the Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2019 until his resignation in October 2020. He served as the Secretary of Foreign Affairs from 2017 to 2018 in the Cabinet of President Rodrigo Duterte. From 2007 to 2017, he was a member of the Senate, where he served as Senate Minority Leader from 2010 to 2013, and later became the Senate Majority Leader from 2013 to 2016. Cayetano unsuccessfully ran for vice president in the 2016 elections as Duterte's running mate.

Cayetano was born to and raised in a political family currently based in Taguig. His father was the late former senator Rene Cayetano; his older sister, Pia, is an incumbent senator; his younger brother, Lino, is the mayor of Taguig; and his wife, Lani, is the representative of Taguig's 2nd district. Cayetano was the chairman of the organizing committee for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. During his time as speaker, one of the most controversial issues was the denial of the franchise renewal of one of the country's biggest network, ABS-CBN, due to a number of issues surrounding the said television network.

Early life
Cayetano was born in Mandaluyong to lawyer Renato "Compañero" Cayetano and German-American former school teacher Sandra Schramm. Although he inherited United States citizenship by descent, he relinquished his U.S. citizenship in 1998. Cayetano resides with his family in Bagumbayan, Taguig.  His wife, Lani Cayetano, formerly Mayor of Taguig, is currently the representative for the 2nd district of Taguig for the 18th Congress. His older sister, Pia, is an incumbent Senator and formerly represented the 2nd district of Taguig at the House of Representatives, where she was also a Deputy Speaker. His youngest brother, Lino, is a film and television director, former congressman of Taguig and currently Mayor of Taguig, while his other brother Ren is a former councilor of Muntinlupa.

Education

Cayetano completed both his elementary and secondary education at De La Salle Santiago Zobel School.Cayetano finished his law degree from the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law in 1997, graduating 2nd Honors (Silver Medalist), and thereafter was admitted to the Philippine bar in 1998. In college, he studied Political Science at the University of the Philippines and graduated in 1993.

UP played an important role in his political career. Apart from having a senator as a father, it was in UP where he got his first taste of politics. Just a year after he entered UP Diliman in 1989 and took up political science, he ran for a post in the UP Diliman University Student Council and won.

He started so young in politics that he was, in fact, still in school in the early parts of his political career. He was in his junior year as a political science student in UP Diliman when he won as councilor, and went to the Ateneo Law School when he ran for vice mayor.

Legislative Accomplishments
Most of the laws authored by Cayetano focus on education, persons with disabilities rights, political reforms, health, and environment. The lists below are the laws that he authored and co-authored during his time as a Philippine Senator (2007-2017). 

Republic Act No. 10648 – Iskolar ng Bayan Act of 2014. This provided scholarship grants to top graduates of all public high schools in state-owned universities and colleges. 
Republic Act No. 9500 – University of the Philippines Charter Act of 2008. 
Republic Act No. 10676 – Student-Athletes Protection Act. This law prohibits the commercialization of student-athletes. 
Republic Act No. 7277 – Magna Carta for Disabled Persons. This law provides for the rehabilitation, self-development and self-reliance of disabled persons and their integration into the mainstream society. 
Republic Act No. 10928 – Amendment of the Philippine Passport Act. This extended the validity of the Philippine passport to ten (10) years.

Political career

National Movement of Young Legislators (NCR Chapter)
From 1992-1993, Cayetano served as the chairman of the National Capital Region Chapter of the National Movement of Young Legislators.

Number One Councilor (Municipality of Taguig [1995-1998])
After his brief stint at the NMYL, Cayetano was elected number one councilor of the Municipality of Taguig in the 1995 local elections, and became one of the youngest councilors in the country. 

As a young councilor, he became Taguig's Majority Floor Leader and held various positions, such as the vice-chairperson of the People's Law Enforcement Board.

House of Representatives, 1st to 3rd term [July 1998-June 2007]

Cayetano ran for the House of Representatives of the Philippines in 1998 as the representative of the lone district of Taguig-Pateros under the Laban ng Makabayang Masang Pilipino. 

In his first term as a neophyte legislator, Cayetano immediately held major roles and functions, such as being voted as the assistant majority leader. He was also chairman of the Oversight Committee on Bases Conversion and Sub-Committee on New Schools (Committee on Education), and the vice-chairman of the Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms.   

During his second term from July 2001 to June 2004 in the 12th Congress, Cayetano became deputy majority leader and the vice-chairman of the Committee on Rules.   

His last term in the 13th Congress from July 2004 to June 2007 is nothing short of achievements. He was the Senior Deputy Minority Leader and an ex officio member of all standing House committees.

16th Congress
After the 2013 elections, at the start of the 16th Congress, Cayetano was elected as the new Senate Majority Floor Leader and was likewise appointed to chair the Senate Committee on Rules.

2016 Vice Presidential Campaign

In a press event held in Davao City, Senator Cayetano announced that he would seek election for vice president in the 2016 national elections under the Nacionalista Party (Cayetano did not mention who would be his presidential running mate). On November 21, 2015, it was made official that Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte would be his running mate for the 2016 presidential elections. Although his running mate won the presidency, Cayetano was placed 3rd in both unofficial and official vote counts conducted by COMELEC and the Congress, respectively.

Secretary of Foreign Affairs (2017–2018)
On May 10, 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte announced that Cayetano was appointed as Secretary of Foreign Affairs, following the expiration of the one-year appointment ban on losing candidates of the 2016 elections. Cayetano replaced acting secretary Enrique Manalo, who assumed the post in March 2017 when the Commission on Appointments's (CA) rejected President Duterte's ad interim appointment of Perfecto Yasay Jr. due to the latter's citizenship concerns.

His appointment to the post by President Duterte was approved by the CA's foreign affairs committee on May 17, 2017. Upon approval of the CA's plenary, he assumed the post as foreign secretary and effectively resign from his post as senator. On May 18, Cayetano was sworn in by President Duterte at the Malacañang of the South in Davao City.

As Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Cayetano took an "objective-based" approach in resolving the territorial disputes of the Philippines, which he describes as negotiation through the use of historical facts, such as the Treaty of Paris of 1898 and the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea, to defend the Philippines' claims. He also vowed to avoid "microphone diplomacy", which he describes as the continual issuing of public statements instead of privately negotiating the issues with the parties.

In January 2018, Filipino Congressman Gary Alejano revealed that the Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano had approved the Chinese Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to perform a scientific survey of the Rise, while disapproving a French research offer in the Philippine Rise. Under the agreement, majority of researchers must be Chinese. On the same month, China told Filipino counterparts that the Philippines has no right in the Philippine Rise. Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte's trusted spokesperson Harry Roque embraced and defended China's statement, causing outrage from various Filipino sectors.

In March 2018, Cayetano reiterated that the West Philippine Sea is "disputed", despite a 2016 decision by an international court backed by the United Nations declaring that the Philippines has the sole legal right on the resources of the West Philippine Sea which also deemed the Philippines as the internationally acknowledged country with jurisdiction on the area. Cayetano cited the continued conflict over territories, specifically islands, which are not covered by the ruling under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Cayetano took the stance that acknowledging the dispute was resolved by the 2016 ruling is not equal to giving up Philippine claims on the territory.

On October 9, 2018, President Duterte announced that Cayetano had planned to run in the May 2019 elections for the post of representative of Taguig. He eventually resigned as Foreign Secretary on October 17, the last day of filing of certificates of candidacies. He was succeeded by former Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations Teodoro Locsin Jr as Foreign Secretary on the same day.

Speaker of the House (2019–2020)

On the first day of the 18th Congress of the Philippines, Cayetano was elected House Speaker after gaining 266 votes against Manila 6th District Representative Benny Abante, who garnered 28 votes. Cayetano became the 22nd Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Republic of the Philippines on July 22, 2019. He was nominated by Representatives Lord Allan Velasco, Martin Romualdez and presidential son Rep. Paolo "Pulong" Duterte. These three representatives also announced their intention to run for speaker, but President Rodrigo Duterte gave his endorsement to Cayetano.

Cayetano agreed to a share his term with Marinduque Representative Lord Allan Velasco, while the 1st District Representative of Leyte, Martin Romualdez, who was among the contenders for the office, agreed to become Majority Floor Leader. The term-sharing agreement was influenced by no less than the President.

House Speaker Cayetano, in his first speech as speaker, expressed his gratitude to the President and to the members of the House of Representatives for the trust and confidence they bestowed upon him. Cayetano entered the session hall of the House of Representative with a standing ovation and a loud round of applause. After that, a pray-over was led by Rep. Eddie Villanueva. Right after his speech, the Speaker said, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all will be added unto you."

Under the term-sharing agreement, Cayetano served for 15 months and was followed by Velasco in the remaining months of the 18th Congress of the Philippines.

On September 2, the House designated him as the Legislative Caretaker of Camarines Sur's 1st district after the elected representative, Marissa Andaya, died of cancer on July 5. On October 16, four days after he resigned as Speaker, the caretaker position was taken over by Michael John Duavit (Rizal–1st).

SEA Games organizing committee
Cayetano chaired the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC), a private organization tasked to organize the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. PHISGOC is a private organization with a budget of PHP6 billion tasked to perform the function of a government office, and shares some of its members with the Philippine Sports Commission.

After the COVID-19 pandemic began, the SEA Games facilities were quickly converted into quarantine centers a mere four months after the Games concluded.

ABS-CBN franchise renewal controversy
In May 2020, Cayetano was blamed by the lawmakers for the shutdown of ABS-CBN, the Philippines' largest broadcasting network, due to his inaction on several bills seeking to renew the station's franchise. Cayetano pretends to blame Solicitor General Jose Calida and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) for ABS-CBN's subsequent closure, stating "the NTC appears to have succumbed to pressure from the Solicitor General and issued a cease and desist order to ABS-CBN." He warned, "as for the sudden flip-flopping of the NTC and the unconstitutional meddling by the Solicitor General in the business of Congress, I promise you, there will be a reckoning." In July 2020, ABS-CBN's franchise renewal was rejected by the Philippine House Committee of 18th Congress, voted 70–11 to deny the application citing political reasons and several issues on the network's franchise. Cayetano revealed that he intentionally reject the network's franchise from the very start, stating that "we simply put an end to the privilege of one family" and that "Filipinos will see that this is simply part of this season's uprooting of the weeds and a reclaiming our patrimony from the oligarchs." The rejection of ABS-CBN franchise resulted in a massive retrenchment of its workers, permanent closure of the operations of numerous businesses, and massive network transfers and resignations. Cayetano and his allies were praised by a rejoicing Solicitor General Calida who claimed continuous victory in silencing ABS-CBN.

In September 2020, Cayetano slammed the European Parliament's resolution to grant ABS-CBN a broadcast license because of its "outright interference" in Philippine affairs, claiming that the European Parliament criticized the Philippine government without first asking questions or ascertaining facts.

In his interview for "Hard Talk" with TV Host Boy Abunda, he stated "If it were up to me, ABS-CBN would have been granted a provisional authority valid until 31 October 2020 (based on HB 6732 which Congressman Cayetano filed on 13 May 2020) to give the body more time to deliberate."

House leadership crisis and resignation, BTS sa Kongreso

Cayetano concedes to tender his irrevocable resignation as House Speaker on October 13, 2020, paving the way for Marinduque representative Lord Allan Velasco to assume his position undisputed.

In January 2021, Cayetano formed a new bloc "BTS sa Kongreso" (named after the K-pop boy band group BTS of South Korea) along with Mike Defensor, LRay Villafuerte, Danilo Fernandez, Raneo Abu, and Jose Antonio Sy-Alvarado.

In late March 2021, Cayetano launched two early political paid advertisements of himself which aired on all major Philippine television networks. One is the campaign to approve a bill to give P10,000 cash aid, while the other one is Cayetano promoting himself as an "ideal public servant."

10K Ayuda Bill and initiative

As the country continues to grapple from the ill effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cayetano and his allies from the BTS filed in February 2021 House Bill 8597 otherwise known as the "10K Ayuda Bill". The measure seeks to provide each Filipino family with a one-time P10,000 assistance or P1,500 per family member, whichever is higher, which they can use for their daily needs or to start their own businesses as they await the full roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines.

With his resolve to prove that the government has the capacity to provide a P10,000 cash assistance to every Filipino family, Cayetano launched the Sampung Libong Pag-Asa (SLP) program on his Facebook page in May. Through pooled resources from the BTS members and other private donors, the SLP initiative is now held almost daily, reaching out to beneficiaries from different sectors across the country. In its daily program via Facebook live, SLP highlights the stories of beneficiaries who said the amount they received helped them rise up from the hardships they encountered when the country was placed under community quarantine. Just four months after launching the program, the SLP reached 10,000 beneficiaries nationwide on September 10, 2021. In October, the number of beneficiaries rose to 12,762.

Sari-Saring Pag-Asa 

Cayetano also introduced another program known as the Sari-Saring Pag-Asa (SSP), which aims to provide struggling sari-sari store owners with a one-time P3,500 cash assistance to replenish their supplies amid the pandemic. A known advocate of small to medium enterprise empowerment, Cayetano initiated the program to complement the Sampung Libong Pag-Asa program which provides select Filipino families with P10,000 in cash aid to help them with their basic needs and put up their own small businesses amid the pandemic.

SSP takes off from the Taguig Pateros (TaPat) Sari-Store Program created by Taguig 2nd District Rep. Lani Cayetano to provide financial assistance and livelihood training for sari-sari store owners in Taguig and Pateros. The local initiative was later expanded into the Sari-Sari Store Community, a national program that sought to create a community of sharing and mutual aid among sari-sari store owners from different parts of the country. As of October 27, 2021, the Cayetanos have extended aid to a total of 4,811 sari-sari store owners from different parts of the country.

2022 Senatorial Campaign
On October 7, 2021, one day before the end of Filling for the Candidacy, Cayetano showed up at the main office of Comelec in Palacio de Gobernador at 4:00 p.m to fill-up his candidacy for Senator. Earlier, he had hinted that he will 'seriously consider' running for President, wherein his focus will be the passage of the "10K Ayuda Bill" he and his allies from the Balik sa Tamang Serbisyo sa Kongreso (BTS) filed in the lower house. The 10K Ayuda Bill seeks to provide each Filipino household a one-time P10,000 cash assistance amid the pandemic. 

Cayetano, however, later on decided to book his return to the Senate, with a goal in mind of drafting a five-year economic recovery plan that can be adopted by the Presidential candidates.

References

External links 

 

1970 births
Ateneo de Manila University alumni
Alan Peter
Duterte Administration cabinet members
Filipino people of American descent
Filipino people of German descent
Living people
Majority leaders of the Senate of the Philippines
Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Pateros–Taguig
Metro Manila city and municipal councilors
Minority leaders of the Senate of the Philippines
Nacionalista Party politicians
People from Taguig
Politicians from Metro Manila
Presidency of Rodrigo Duterte
Candidates in the 2016 Philippine vice-presidential election
Secretaries of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines
Senators of the 14th Congress of the Philippines
Senators of the 15th Congress of the Philippines
Senators of the 16th Congress of the Philippines
Senators of the 17th Congress of the Philippines
Speakers of the House of Representatives of the Philippines
University of the Philippines alumni
Former United States citizens