2. Pia Cayetano
• Pilar Juliana Schramm Cayetano (born March 22, 1966), known
as Pia Cayetano, is a Filipina politician, lawyer, and former
television host serving as a Senator since 2019, a position she
previously held from 2004 to 2016. She was also
the Representative of Taguig's 2nd district from 2016 to 2019 and
was one of the Deputy Speakers.
3. • Cayetano was born to a political family currently based in Taguig.
Her father was the late former senator Rene Cayetano; her
younger brother, Alan Peter, is an incumbent senator who formerly
represented Taguig-Pateros district and became Speaker of the
House during the 18th Congress; another younger brother, Rene
Carl, is a former councilor of Muntinlupa; her youngest
brother, Lino, was mayor of Taguig; and her sister-in-law (Alan
Peter's wife) Lani, is the incumbent mayor of Taguig.
4. • Cayetano authored the Expanded Senior Citizens Act, Expanded
Breastfeeding Promoting Act, and the Responsible Parenthood and
Reproductive Health Act of 2012, among others. She earned her
economics (cum laude) and law degrees at the University of the
Philippines, where she played volleyball for the UP Lady Maroons team
that won the 1983 UAAP title. She has also played for the national
women's volleyball team.[1] Cayetano is also a runner, cyclist,
and triathlete.
• Pia Cayetano was conferred the Rizal Women of Malalos Award by
the Order of the Knights of Rizal.
5. Early life
• Cayetano was born on March 22, 1966, to Renato "Compañero"
Cayetano, who would later become Senator, and German-
American former school teacher Sandra Schramm.
6. Education
• Cayetano took up Bachelor of Arts in Economics at the University
of the Philippines, and graduated cum laude in 1985. She then took
up Bachelor of Laws at University of the Philippines Diliman. She
graduated in 1991 with academic distinction, #7 in her class. She
also became a member of the Honor Society, Order of the Purple
Feather.
7. Legal career
• From 1992 to 1995, Cayetano was an associate lawyer at the Castillo,
Laman Tan, and Pantaleon Law Offices, specializing in corporate and
intellectual property law.[4] From 1996 to 1999, she was an officer for the
legal and corporate affairs of the Belle Corporation and its affiliates,
including the gaming conglomerate BW Resources. In 2000, she was
general counsel for the Philweb Corporation. In 2001, she was appointed
chairwoman of the Maxi Group of Companies, a retailer and distributor of
educational toys, infant apparel and accessories.
• In 2012, she opened her own cafe, Slice, at Bonifacio High Street in
Taguig.
8. Political career
• Following the death of her father, then Senator Renato Cayetano, due
to liver cancer on June 25, 2003, several legislators including senators,
encouraged Pia Cayetano to run for office. As a result, she ran for a
Senate seat in the 2004 elections. Initially she was a virtual unknown to
the electorate but with the liberalization of political advertisements, she
gained popularity with her TV advertisement as a runner, cyclist, and as a
tri-athlete, and as a new host of her father's TV program Compañero y
Compañera for a short stint. She won in the elections landing in the sixth
position. In 2010, Cayetano ran for re-election as a guest candidate under
the Nacionalista Party. She won, again landing in sixth place. Her second
term as senator ended in 2016.
9. • During 112th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly in Manila, Cayetano
was elected President of the 10th Meeting of Women Parliamentarians
during the sidelines of the annual meeting. On April 17, 2008, she was
elected for a two-year term, president of the Committee of Women
Parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) during its 118th
General Assembly in Cape Town, South Africa. As the first Filipino and
Asian to head it, she ran unopposed and took over from Uruguay's
Monica Xavier.[6] This is the highest position held by any Filipino or Asian
in the history of the IPU.
10. • Cayetano pushed for the enactment of the ‘Magna Carta of Women’
which seeks to end all forms of gender discrimination, and the ‘Expanded
Breastfeeding Act,’ which establishes lactation stations in the workplace
to encourage nursing mothers to continue breastfeeding even at work.[8]
• Cayetano is likewise credited for the passage of the ‘Expanded Senior
Citizens Act’ which allowed the elderly to fully enjoy the 20-percent senior
citizens discount by exempting their purchases of medicines and other
vital services from the 12-percent Value Added Tax.
11. • She was responsible for passing the ‘Food and Drugs Administration
(FDA) Law’ and the ‘Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality
Medicines Law,’ both of which seek to strengthen State mechanisms to
ensure safe and affordable quality drugs for all.[8] She also authored or
co-authored the Foster Care Act (RA 10165), Mandatory Infants and
Children Health Immunization Act (RA 10152), Expanded Breastfeeding
Promotion Act (RA 10028), Establishment of Persons with Disability
Affairs Office Act (RA 10070), National Anti-Rabies Act (RA 9482), and the
Environmental Awareness and Education Act (RA 9512), among others.
12. • Most recently, Senator Cayetano worked for the passage of two landmark laws,
the Reproductive Health Act (RA 10354), for which she was the principal sponsor,
and the Sin Tax Reform Act (RA 10351) which sought to fund government health
programs from tax proceeds from cigarettes and alcohol products.
• In 2016, she won as Congresswoman of Taguig City's second district.[9] She
would later be named one of twelve Deputy Speakers of the House of
Representatives under the 17th Congress.[10]
• In 2019, she ran for a comeback to the Senate under the Hugpong ng
Pagbabago coalition.[11] She was successful, placing fourth and thus securing her
third term.
13. Personal life
• Cayetano is an advocate of sports as part of a holistic youth
development program, prevention of diseases, and the need for a
healthy and fit lifestyle. She is the founder of Gabriel Symphony
Foundation which was established following the death of her son
Gabriel, who was diagnosed with
multiple congenital anomalies.[12] The foundation helps children
with disabilities and life-threatening ailments.
14. • She has three siblings: Alan Peter, an incumbent Senator who formerly
served as the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Speaker of the House of
Representatives; Rene Carl, a former councilor of Muntinlupa and the
owner of the collectible figurine store "Maxicollector"; and Lino Edgardo, a
television and movie director, former Barangay Chairman of Barangay
Fort Bonifacio in Taguig, former congressional representative of the
second district of Taguig, and former Mayor of Taguig. Cayetano is a
mother to two daughters, Maxine and Nadine, and a son Gabriel, who
died from complications of a rare chromosomal disorder in 2001. She is
also a foster parent to Rene Lucas.
15. • She is also the founder of the Compañero Rene Cayetano
Foundation in memory of her father, which helps the
underprivileged in the areas of health, education, and environment,
as well as Pinay In Action (PIA), which promotes health, fitness,
and women empowerment.[14]
• She is a member of Young Entrepreneurs' Organization and a
spokesperson of the Philippine Cancer Society and the Universal
Birth Registration Project.
