“Celebrate, but choose health,” Senator Pia S. Cayetano emphasized as she co-sponsored Proposed Resolution No. 125, introduced by Senate President Vicente Sotto III. The measure expresses the sense of the Senate to declare the last week of September of every year as National Family Week.
Known for her consistent advocacy on health and nutrition, Senator Cayetano stressed the importance of honoring the Filipino tradition of celebrating family milestones, while also encouraging families to adopt healthier choices during these gatherings. She cautioned against the excessive consumption of soft drinks, fatty, and sugary foods that are heavily marketed to the public. For her, National Family Week should not only bring families closer together, but also inspire them to prioritize nutrition and overall well-being for a stronger, healthier future.
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Sen. Pia Cayetano co-sponsors Resolution declaring National Family Week
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Cayetano urges action on growing classroom gap
Finance Senior Vice Chairperson Senator Pia S. Cayetano pressed for urgent action to close the country’s classroom gap during the hearing on the proposed 2026 budget of the Department of Education. She cited the P400 billion needed to build enough classrooms, emphasizing the importance of efficient budget use, stronger DepEd–DPWH coordination, and LGU support for minor repairs to make more facilities usable.
She also highlighted the need to support school sports clubs, align higher education programs to produce needed professionals, embed digital wellness and mental health in lessons, and sustain feeding and reading initiatives. Cayetano stressed the importance of preparing students with the 4 Cs: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. Finally, she urged her fellow Senators to safeguard education funds at every stage of the budget process.
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Cayetano supports UNCLOS agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction
Senator Pia S. Cayetano manifested her support for Senate Resolution No. 127, concurring in the agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction.
“This landmark treaty fills a critical gap in international maritime law. For a maritime and archipelagic nation like the Philippines, this agreement is not abstract, it is strategic and it is necessary,” the senator said during her manifestation of support on the floor. Among the agreement’s objectives is to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national borders, by regulating harmful activities like overfishing, deep sea mining, and pollution.
As Chairperson of the Senate Committee on SDGs, Innovation, and Futures Thinking, Senator Cayetano said the treaty advances several SDG targets, as marine biodiversity protection is linked to climate action, people’s livelihood, the health of ecosystems, sustainable consumption & production, peace & justice in resource use, and stronger partnerships for sustainable solutions. -
Cayetano on SDGs: “We cannot fix what we cannot measure properly”
“We cannot fix what we cannot measure properly,” Senator Pia S. Cayetano emphasized as she reconvened the Senate Committee on Sustainable Development Goals, Innovation, and Futures Thinking to continue its review of the country’s progress toward 2030. She pressed agencies to present pre-pandemic baselines to better assess progress, address data gaps, and align budget priorities.
Cayetano also highlighted the irony of the Philippines being on track to reach upper middle-income country (UMIC) status while poverty incidence remains high. She further linked the discussion to her simultaneous participation in the Women, Children, and Family Relations Committee, noting how poverty makes families more vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation.
The Committee then heard the bills on Walkable and Bikeable Communities, which passed in the Senate on 3rd reading in the 18th & 19th Congresses. Cayetano underscored the goal to institutionalize active transportation through sidewalks, safe bike lanes, and people-first street design. She also called for smarter use of funds, including shifting budgets away from anomalous projects toward active mobility infrastructure.
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Cayetano: Align policy goals with resources
Senator Pia S. Cayetano urged government’s finance and economic managers to align policy goals with resources that truly improve people’s lives during the Development Budget Coordination Committee briefing at the Senate. Drawing from her experience as Vice Chair of Finance for seven years, she pushed for stricter discipline in budgeting and clearer priorities across sectors.
Cayetano stressed the need for consistent standards and stronger absorptive capacity in agencies so projects are actually delivered. She cited, for example, the budget for classroom construction – lodged under the Department of Education but implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways – as well as the attrition of college students given the decrease in the Tertiary Education Subsidy of the Commission on Higher Education.
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Strengthen Higher Education policies — Cayetano
Senator Pia S. Cayetano highlighted the importance of strengthening higher education policies to better prepare graduates for employment during the organizational meeting of the Senate Committee on Higher, Technical, and Vocational Education.
Drawing from her experience as former Chair of the Senate Committee on Education in the 16th Congress and as Senior Vice Chair of Finance handling the education budget for six years, she raised concerns on job readiness, job mismatch, and unfair hiring practices.
She reminded employers that age-based hiring restrictions are banned under the Anti-Age Discrimination in Employment Act, which she authored, and urged the public to report violations to DOLE.
Cayetano also noted that if LGU spending for education is included, our total expenditure for the sector may surpass 4% of our GDP, a benchmark set under UNESCO’s Education 2030 Framework for Action. She emphasized, however, that investments in the sector must keep growing in order to bridge the remaining gaps.
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Photo Release: 1st Hearing of the Committee on Sustainable Development Goals, Innovation, and Futures Thinking
Senator Pia S. Cayetano opened the first hearing of the Senate Committee on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Innovation, and Futures Thinking in the 20th Congress with a reminder that with less than five years left before 2030, the Philippines must accelerate its efforts to meet its commitments.
Drawing from her years of experience as Senior Vice Chair of the Senate Finance Committee handling the health budget, she pointed to the gap between actual improvements and official reports. “I’ve been working on health since 2004 and I can attest that we’re so much better off now than before. Having said that, how come your data shows that progress in SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being) is regressing?” she asked.
Addressing the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DepDev), the Senator inquired how Congress could help close data gaps and strengthen monitoring. “You have data gaps, my question to you is, is there anything we can do to help in the next five years, to be able to include other indicators? Are they very difficult to do, does it need a bigger budget? Just tell us what we need to do so that we can assess properly,” she said.
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Cayetano delivers privilege speech marking National Breastfeeding Month
As a longtime advocate and sponsor of the Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion Act, Senator Pia S. Cayetano marked National Breastfeeding Month with her annual privilege speech – a tradition she has kept for two decades.
Calling breastfeeding “nature’s first immunization,” the senator underscored its role in protecting children from malnutrition and disease, while also advancing several Sustainable Development Goals.
Despite this, only 50.4% of Filipino infants are exclusively breastfed in their first six months, leaving many families to depend on unsafe or less nutritious alternatives.
Cayetano also highlighted the progress achieved through her law requiring lactation stations and workplace support for nursing mothers, but urged government agencies, schools, and LGUs to sustain and strengthen programs that encourage breastfeeding.
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Cayetano: “What is the cost of online gambling to society?”
“What is the cost of online gambling to society?” Sen. Pia S. Cayetano asked at today’s Senate hearing, urging colleagues to weigh the real cost to families and the youth. She cited links to suicides, money laundering, cybercrimes, family distress, and rising addiction and mental health issues, noting a 2023 survey showing 66 percent of Filipinos aged 18 to 24 engaged in online gambling, with frequent betting tied to academic neglect and financial strain.
Even as government revenues have surged, she questioned whether they are worth the social harm. As Chairperson of the Committee on Ways and Means, she hopes there will be no need to hold a hearing on taxing online gambling because it will be banned outright.
She also informed PAGCOR that PhilHealth has yet to receive its share from their revenue since 2019.
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Cayetano raises Sin Tax revenue concerns in Universal Healthcare Interpellation
Senator Pia S. Cayetano, in her interpellation on Sen. JV Ejercito’s privilege speech on the Universal Healthcare program, explained how the risk-sharing scheme under PhilHealth’s YAKAP package works. She explained how P1,700 per person is pooled for an entire community and spent according to members’ varying health needs, “similar to how an HMO works.” The senator also cited the model of a U.S.-based HMO, Kaiser Permanente, which rewards members for engaging in healthy activities, noting that “the aim is to keep people healthy before they become patients.”
FInally, Cayetano raised the failure to appropriate the earmarked sin tax revenues to PhilHealth. “For 2025, P69.81 billion ang sin tax collection para sa PhilHealth, pero ang pumasok sa GAA is zero,” she said, adding that she will file as an intervenor in the pending Supreme Court case. “Kaya natin inearmark yon dahil nga yung mga bisyo na nakakasama sa tao, sana man lang may nakukuha doon pambayad sa gamot nila. Tapos hindi natin nakukuha.”