Official Website of Philippine Senator Pia Cayetano

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  • Senator Pia Cayetano Backs CHED’s Call to Defer Tuition Increases, Urges HEIs to Prioritize Student Welfare

    Senator Pia Cayetano Backs CHED’s Call to Defer Tuition Increases, Urges HEIs to Prioritize Student Welfare

    Senator Pia S. Cayetano expressed strong support for the Commission on Higher Education’s (CHED) call urging Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to defer planned tuition increases, emphasizing the need to protect Filipino families already grappling with rising costs of living.

    “I fully support CHED’s call for universities to hold off on tuition increases. Many families are already struggling with rising costs across the board. We must ensure that education remains accessible, especially during these challenging times,” Cayetano stated.

    The Senator, who serves as Senior Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance and has handled the education budget for six years, stressed that accessible education is fundamental to breaking cycles of poverty and ensuring intergenerational equity.

    Cayetano noted that the government has been working to strengthen support for higher education through the Tertiary Education Subsidy and increased funding for State Universities and Colleges. She emphasized that private institutions play a vital role in keeping education within reach of Filipino families, and expressed hope that, in this challenging time, they can work together with the government in exploring ways to ease the burden on students while sustaining the quality of education they provide.

    Cayetano also commended CHED for maintaining an open dialogue with institutions while balancing the need to ensure that students and their families are not overburdened during this time. “I appreciate that CHED is engaging with HEIs on this matter. It’s important that we balance the operational needs of institutions with the capacity of families to afford education.”

    The Senator called on higher education institutions to explore alternative means of addressing operational challenges without passing the burden to students and their families. She emphasized that investing in education is investing in the nation’s future, and accessibility must remain a priority.

    “Education is the great equalizer. We cannot allow it to become a privilege that only the wealthy can afford,” Cayetano concluded.


    Sen. Pia, Suportado ang Panawagang Ipagpaliban ang Tuition Hike

    Sinusuportahan ni Senador Pia S. Cayetano ang panawagan ng Commission on Higher Education (CHED) sa mga Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) na ipagpaliban ang planong pagtaas ng matrikula, habang binibigyang-diin ang pangangailangang protektahan ang mga pamilyang Pilipinong nahihirapan na sa mabilis na pagtaas ng pang-araw-araw na gastusin.

    “I fully support CHED’s call for universities to hold off on tuition increases. Many families are already struggling with rising costs across the board. We must ensure that education remains accessible, especially during these challenging times,” pahayag ni Cayetano.

    Si Cayetano na nagsisilbing Senior Vice Chair ng Senate Committee on Finance at humawak ng badyet sa edukasyon sa loob ng anim na taon, ay nagpaliwanag na ang accessible na edukasyon ay susi sa pagwakas ng kahirapan at pagsisiguro ng intergenerational equity.

    Binanggit ni Cayetano na nagsusumikap ang gobyerno na palakasin ang suporta sa mga programa sa higher education sa pamamagitan ng Tertiary Education Subsidy at pagtaas ng pondo para sa mga State Universities and Colleges. Binigyang-diin din niya ang mahalagang papel na ginagampanan ng mga pribadong institusyon sa pagpapanatiling abot-kaya ang edukasyon para sa mga pamilyang Pilipino. Nanawagan si Cayetano na magtulungan ang pribadong sektor at ang gobyerno upang pagaanin ang pasanin ng mga estudyante, lalo na sa panahon ngayon.

    Pinuri rin ni Cayetano ang CHED sa pakikipag-dayalogo sa mga HEIs habang binabalanse ang pangangailangang tiyakin na ang mga estudyante at ang kanilang mga pamilya ay hindi lalong mahirapan sa kasalukuyan. “I appreciate that CHED is engaging with HEIs on this matter. It’s important that we balance the operational needs of institutions with the capacity of families to afford education.”

    Hinimok ng Senador ang mga HEIs na humanap ng alternatibong paraan sa pagtugon sa mga hamon sa kanilang operasyon nang hindi ipapasa ang pasanin sa mga estudyante at kanilang mga pamilya. Naniniwala si Cayetano na ang pamumuhunan sa edukasyon ay pamumuhunan sa kinabukasan ng bansa, at ang accessibility ay dapat manatiling priyoridad.

    “Education is the great equalizer. We cannot allow it to become a privilege that only the wealthy can afford,” pagtatapos ni Cayetano.

  • Pia welcomes new panel on Sustainable Dev’t Goals

    Senator Pia S. Cayetano welcomed the formation of a new standing committee that would oversee the country’s progress in achieving its commitments to the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the year 2030. 

    The Senate on Tuesday (September 3) adopted Philippine Senate Resolution (PSR) 122 creating the Committee on SDGs, Innovations, and Futures Thinking, while merging two other panels in line with the objective of streamlining the number of standing committees of the Senate.

    The resolution was sponsored by Senate Majority Floor Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and adopted unanimously by the senators.

    Cayetano said the formation of the new panel would help ensure that the Institution shall be “cognizant and conscious” of the 17 SDGs agreed upon by member-countries of the UN, including the Philippines. The SDGs seek to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. 

    “It would be the responsibility of the Committee to at least make sure that the body knows that there are such goals that need to be achieved by way of prioritizing,” the senator stressed.

    “I believe that the biggest contribution of the [SDGs] Committee would be on [tackling] overlapping goals… Many times, a committee is left within the confines of a bill pending before it… That’s why the SDGs Committee is secondarily referred to ensure that we take a bigger picture,” she added. 

    Furthermore, Cayetano pointed out that the new committee would oblige the Senate to allot the needed time and resources in addressing issues that can generally affect the next generation of Filipinos. Thus, the term “Futures Thinking.” 

    “That is something that we tend to neglect precisely because by human nature and survival, we tend to focus on the problems on hand. The objective here is to be planning for the future, to think out of the box,” she noted. 

    Aside from creating the new committee, PSR 122 merged several standing committees of the Senate, namely: the Committee on Agriculture and Food with the Committee on Agrarian Reform; the Committee on National Defense and Security with the Committee on Peace, Unification, and Reconciliation; and the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources with the Committee on Climate Change.

    The reorganization reduced the number of standing committees of the Senate from 41 to 39, which Zubiri said had been the chamber’s average number of committees in the last four Congresses. #

    Senator Pia Cayetano, Senate Majority Floor Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, and Senate Minority Floor Leader Franklin Drilon (foreground) discuss the rationale for the creation of the Senate Committee on Sustainable Development Goals, Innovations, and Futures Thinking during Tuesday’s session. (Sept.3)   

  • Appeal to reduce Senate’s paper consumption*

    Senator Cayetano: Dear colleagues, I’d like to commend everyone. There is no plastic bottle on our tables today. Congratulations, I know that’s an effort. We all have the right to drink water, of course, or whatever beverage of choice. But you make an effort because of our collective desire to use less plastic. 

    So kung kulang pa yung binigay ko sa inyong bamboo bottle, hingi kayo kay Ralph sa next batch, para mauwi niyo, para magamit niyo.

    Anyway, so my manifestation, Mr. President, is on a similar note. In 2010, my office, along with an NGO called Mother Earth, initiated with the Senate recycling, reusing, and the establishment of an MRF. An MRF is a Material Recovery Facility. 

    And, to cut a very interesting story short, we were able to cut in half our garbage in one month. This is around 2011. That is the MRF that we put up. [Points to a photo of the Senate MRF flashed on the monitor] So they collect, they segregate, etc. and the garbage delivery went down from once a week to every other week, which is half. 

    But this information I have was in, 2011, so that was the 15th Congress, if I am not mistaken. We don’t have new data and so my request would be for the Secretariat to update us on how much garbage we [generate] and what are we doing to recycle it.

    To give our colleagues an idea of how much paper we are currently using, I have asked my staff to put together [gestures to show pile of paper consisting of agenda, order of business, journal and other documents issued per senator per wek] – this is what we consumed in one week. This is… each pile is one senator. This is not even what you consume in your office, with the papers. But this is what the Secretariat produces for us. This is the reference of business, the agenda, the journal.

    So on that note – thank you – My proposal the last time was that, it’s a personal choice to decide, if there are things that you can forego. Like for example, in my case, I am willing to look at the agenda on my laptop, I am willing to look at the reference of business on my laptop as well. I am old-school so a lot of the bills, I want to put it on hand-written notes, so there are some things that I can’t forego. But it’s just that we talk about it and we decide for ourselves and collectively what we are willing to do.

    We need to lead by example, Mr. President. And that’s why I bring it up to all of us. Just for the body’s information, that was 90 pages per senator, produced by the Secretariat for us, not even counting whatever you produce in your own offices. 

    So that is my manifestation, Mr. President, that the Secretariat update us on the status of our MRF, the status of the collection. By the way, our garbage collection bill went down, because we only had to have it collected every other week. But again, this is outdated information because this is a few years back.

    So may we ask the Secretariat to update us in the next few days of weeks? [Senate President Sotto responds] 

    SP Sotto: I am informed that the Secretariat will be ready to inform us on this matter by tomorrow.

    Senator Cayetano: Thank you. And on that note, Mr. President, I also suggest that perhaps we can also have our own Senate app, because you can easily do a PDF of the reference of business, but it’s not always the easiest way to make your notes or to comment. But if we have our own app, exclusively for the senators, the staff, and the Secretariat, you can actually use something as basic as Google Documents wherein you can put your comments to share with your staff. Something again that I would just like the Secretariat and the leadership to consider.

    Thank you very much, Mr. President!

    *Manifestation delivered at the Senate session on Monday, August 5, 2019.

    Senator Pia Cayetano demonstrates how much paper is distributed per senator in a week, as she appealed to her colleagues to consider going digital to help reduce the volume of paper waste generated by the Senate.

  • Statement on priority tax reform measures

    In past Congresses, I focused on the delivery  of social services like education and health.
    Now, I have the opportunity to continue this advocacy from a finance perspective. 

    As chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, I look forward to working with our counterparts in the House of Representatives and our economic managers led by the Finance Department in exploring ways to fund social services for our people. 

    I have started consultations with the DOF and soon will conduct hearings, open to all sectors. Our goal is to ensure steady, sustainable development to uplift the lives of the Filipino families.#

    Senator Pia S. Cayetano

    Chair, Senate Committee on Ways and Means

    Senator Pia Cayetano leads a consultation with officials of Ways Ways the Department of Finance to discuss the government’s priority tax reforms.

  • Pia calls for ‘plastics-free’ Senate

    Consistent with the celebration of ‘Plastic-Free July,’ Senator Pia S. Cayetano has called on the Senate to do its share in supporting the global movement to ditch single-use plastics and reduce plastic pollution.

    In a brief manifestation during Monday’s session (July 29), Cayetano reiterated her plastics-free advocacy by urging fellow senators not to contribute to the generation of plastic wastes in the country. 

    She enjoined her colleagues to adopt a policy of prohibiting PET bottles in plenary or during Senate hearings. 

    As an alternative to plastic, the senator had bamboo tumblers distributed to her colleagues in the session hall. 

    This was not the first time that Cayetano made an appeal to the Senate to be more environment-conscious in the conduct of its duties.

    In 2012, Cayetano wrote a letter to the Senate Secretariat suggesting that water dispensers be set up in the Senate halls, instead of distributing bottled water during session and public hearings. 

    “This was adopted at that time, but I don’t really know what happened in the (last) Congress because I wasn’t here. So may I propose that we adopt it once again, especially since it is July, which is No-Plastic Month,” Cayetano told her colleagues. 

    “To help support my colleagues in shifting to a more sustainable way of drinking water or whatever beverage you prefer, I am giving all of you bamboo tumblers, which you can use in lieu of single-use plastics,” she added.

    In 2011, Cayetano also requested the establishment of a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) and enforce a ban on plastic bags within the institution’s premises. This resulted in a 50-percent reduction in the solid wastes generated by the Senate during that year.#

    Senator Pia Cayetano asks the Senate to reduce its plastic waste, starting with ditching the practice of distributing PET bottled water during hearings and sessions.
    With Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa holding up the reusable bamboo tumblers that Senator Pia Cayetano gave out to her colleagues in lieu of plastic bottled water distributed in plenary.