Keeping up with the Cayetanos of Taguig in the 2019 elections

October 16, 2018 - 2:13 PM
12966
Alan Peter Cayetano poses with his mother Sandra Schramm and wife Lani Cayetano for the Mother's Day celebration in 2018. (Facebook/Alan Peter Cayetano)

(Updated, Oct. 17, 9:11 a.m.) The Cayetanos are aiming to continue their hold of Taguig as Alan Peter bids for a congressional seat representing Taguig-Pateros, Lino in Taguig’s mayoral position and Lani as the city’s second district representative.

Alan Peter recently declared his desire to vie for the Speakership in the lower house of Congress, citing that he had consulted President Rodrigo Duterte about his decision.

His initiative to run as a congressman was finalized when former Ambassador to the United Nations Teodoro Locsin Jr. was appointed the new Foreign Affairs Secretary, Alan Peter’s previous post.

Filipinos immediately shared their reactions on the Cayetanos’ initiative to run in Taguig once more, with some comparing them to the Binays in Makati.

READ: Binay vs Binay scenario in Makati mayoral race close to becoming reality

The Binays have been ruling Makati since former Vice President Jejomar Binay became its mayor in 1986.

Meanwhile, the Cayetanos started to enter politics when their family patriarch Renato represented Taguig, Pateros and Muntinlupa in the First National Assembly in 1984 for two years.

The Cayetanos 

Alan Peter Cayetano

Alan Peter in a Facebook post shared that seeking a public office in Taguig-Pateros would be like a homecoming to him. He started his political career in one of Metro Manila’s centralized business districts.

“It is time for me to come home to Taguig and Pateros. Although I never left and continue to live in Bagumbayan, Taguig, I have missed the daily intertwined life with my neighbors and brothers and sisters in Taguig and Pateros,” he wrote.

Alan Peter was Taguig’s councilor from 1992 to 1995. He became its vice mayor from 1995 to 1998 and rose to become its lone district representative in the Congress from 1998 to 2007.

Some of the legislative measures he supported as a congressman during former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III’s term are the Freedom of Information Bill, the Iskolar ng Bayan Act of 2014 and the Children with Special Needs Education Fund Act of 2013, among others.

After being Taguig’s lone district representative for a decade, Alan Peter turned to the Congress’ upper house and became a senator for eleven years.

By 2017, Duterte appointed him as the Foreign Affairs Secretary, replacing Perfecto Yasay.

Lino Cayetano 

Lino is gunning for Taguig’s mayoral position after being its second district representative in the lower house two years ago. He first served Taguig as Fort Bonifacio’s barangay captain in 2010.

Three years later, he got elected to become its second district representative at 36-years-old. He held the position for four years.

For the past few days, the younger brother of Pia and Alan Cayetano has been actively posting about his encounters with local officials, barangay leaders, traders, students and Taguig City residents—indicating his seriousness in the mayoral race.

Lani Cayetano

The wife of Alan Peter is eyeing the congressional seat as Taguig’s second district representative after Pia leaves the position for a senatorial bid.

Lani is currently Taguig City’s mayor since 2010. She is considered the youngest local chief executive in the city’s history, as well as the first female to have held the position.

She officially entered the political scene when she represented the first district of Taguig-Pateros in 2007. Three years later, she became Taguig’s mayor.

Pia Cayetano 

Pia recently filed her certificate of candidacy for a bid in the senatorial race once more. She is currently a deputy speaker in the lower house, representing Taguig’s second district.

Prior to becoming a congresswoman, Pia was a senator from 2004 to 2016. She pushed for several legislative measures that catered to women, children and the elderly.

Some of these are the Foster Care Act, the Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion Act, the Expanded Senior Citizens Act and the Magna Carta of Women, among others.

She was also one of those who initiated the passage of three landmark laws, namely the Reproductive Health Law, the Sin Tax Reform Act and the Graphic Health Warning Act.

Pia is running under the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan for the 2019 mid-term elections.