Alan Peter Cayetano

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.

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).[6][7] 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.

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.[8] 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.[9]

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 will assume the post as foreign secretary and effectively resign from his post as senator.[10] On May 18, Cayetano was sworn in by President Duterte at the Malacañang of the South in Davao City.[11]

As Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Cayetano plans 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 on the Law of the Sea, to defend the Philippines' claims.[12] 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.[13]

Cayetano with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during the former's visit to Washington D.C., September 27, 2017

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.[14]

In March 2018, Cayetano reiterated that the West Philippine Sea is "disputed," despite an international court backed by the United Nations declared 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. Presidential spokesperson Roque also called the area as "disputed," effectively making it as the Duterte administration's policy on the West Philippine Sea. Acting Supreme Court Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, the main proponent of the West Philippine Sea case, told media that the court ruling is clear and that the Filipino foreign secretary and the presidential spokesperson themselves need to be educated more on the matter, because if they continue to call an undisputed area as disputed, China will use it as leverage against the Philippines.[15]

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 city. He eventually resigned as Foreign Secretary on October 17, the last day of filing of certificates of candidacies.[16] He was succeeded by former Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations Teodoro Locsin Jr as Foreign Secretary on the same day.

Cayetano taking his oath of office as Speaker on July 21, 2019

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 Jr., 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 Jay 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.

In 2016, House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano was the running mate of the President Rodrigo R. Duterte but lost to the administration bet, Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo.

House Speaker Cayetano is not new to the House of Representatives. In 1998, he was elected 1st District Representative of Taguig City, and served until 2007. That year, he ran for Senator of the Republic and successfully earned a Senate seat. He was a senator for 10 years until President Duterte appointed him in the Department of Foreign Affairs as successor of then-Foreign Sec. Perfecto Yasay after the Commission on Appointments denied Yasay's appointment as secretary of the department.

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 will serve for 15 months and will be 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.[17] However, on October 16, just four days after he resigned as Speaker, House members had him replaced by Michael John Duavit (Rizal–1st).[18]

Cayetano chaired the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC), a private organization tasked to organize the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.[19][20] 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.[19][21]

The budget became the subject of an inquiry by the Philippine Senate.[22] Cayetano was also questioned about PHP50 million spent for the construction of a cauldron for the opening ceremonies, with one senator remarking that the cost could have been spent building 50 classrooms.[22] The cauldron was described by one Congress representative as "Imeldific," referring to the supposed ostentatiousness of the cauldron.[23] Questions were also raised about mismanagement, faulty preparations, and unfinished facilities.[24]

In May 2020, lawmakers blamed Cayetano accountable for the shutdown of the Philippines' largest broadcasting station ABS-CBN,[25] due to his inaction on several bills seeking to renew the station's franchise.[26][27] Cayetano blamed Solicitor General Jose Calida and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) for the subsequent closure of ABS-CBN, stating that "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."[28] In July 2020, the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN has been rejected by the House of Representatives, 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."[29] The rejection of ABS-CBN franchise resulted in a massive retrenchment of its workers, permanent closure of the operations of several businesses, and network transfers and resignations. Cayetano's decision was praised by a rejoicing Calida, who claimed continuous victory in silencing ABS-CBN.[30]

In September 2020, Cayetano slammed the European Parliament's resolution to grant ABS-CBN a broadcast license.[31]

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.[32]