Teddy Casiño: Street parliamentarian

MANILA, Philippines - Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teddy Casiño counts his 15 years as a street parliamentarian as part of his 23 years in public service, which he says greatly helped him in becoming an effective legislator and advocate for various pro-poor causes.

It’s his second attempt to become senator this May and despite his relatively low rankings in surveys, he remains unfazed.

“I think history and public sentiment are on our side this time,” he says, noting there are less critics and cynics to his candidacy now.

“I’ve accepted the fact that the big names, famous surnames’and those with so much money and support for TV ads have the advantage, but I was never in politics just for the sake of winning, but for our advocacies,” he says.

Having established a strong track record, he says people are now asking him if he has the finances and other resources to wage a campaign. 

“There’s no more question on our legitimacy, platform, and politics; the questions I’m asked now are more on the practical side. But I tell them, this candidacy is not about me. It’s about you and the kind of representation you want in the Senate,” Casiño says.

The third of five siblings, Casiño was born in Davao City on Nov. 15, 1968 to Amador Casareo Casiño, a lawyer from the University of the Philippines, and Lizabelle Icamina Acevedo of Kalibo, Aklan, who graduated from the Philippine Women’s University.

He took up AB Sociology at the UP Los Baños where he was editor-in-chief of the UPLB Perspective and became national president of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines. Currently he is chairman of the committee on small business and entrepreneurship development in the House of Representatives, and executive vice president of the Makabayang Koalisyong ng Mamamayan (Makabayan).

He is married to Ruth Cervantes, a human rights advocate, and they have two young boys. He was an altar boy and wanted to be a priest, but in the process of fighting for social justice, lower prices of basic commodities, better pay for workers, and human rights in the streets, Casiño found himself in politics, as party-list congressman for the last eight years.

In the House, Casiño was principal author of 178 measures, including the Whistleblowers’ Protection and Rewards Bill, Freedom of Information Bill, the Anti-Dynasty Bill, and the Anti-Epal Bill. Some became laws, including the Public Attorneys Act of 2007, the Tax Relief Act of 2009, Rent Control Act of 2009, and the Anti-Torture Act of 2009. What’s very clear to him, Casiño says, is the legislative anti-poverty agenda he will push in the Senate once elected.

He says he will push for the enactment of a law to ensure land, equipment, subsidies and other forms of support for farmers under agrarian reform to lift them from poverty and attain food security He will also seek the passage of law to develop and strengthen local industries – from small enterprises to big factories to create adequate jobs and provide living wages to Filipino workers.

“I will oppose the privatization of public hospitals, water districts, power generation, and other social services,” he says.