Teodoro Casiño | |
|---|---|
 Casiño in 2024 | |
| Chairperson ofBagong Alyansang Makabayan | |
| Assumed office April 15, 2023[1] | |
| Preceded by | Carol Araullo |
| Member of theHouse of Representatives forBayan Muna Party-list | |
| In office June 30, 2004 – June 30, 2013 Serving with Neri Colmenares | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Teodoro Acevedo Casiño (1968-11-15)November 15, 1968 (age 56) Davao City, Philippines |
| Political party | Bayan Muna Bayan |
| Other political affiliations | Makabayan (2009–present) |
| Spouse | Ruth Cervantes |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | La Salle Green Hills |
| Alma mater | University of the Philippines Los Baños (BA Sociology) |
| Profession | Writer, politician, journalist |
| Website | myteddycasiño |
Teodoro "Teddy" Casiñoy Acevedo (Tagalog pronunciation:[kaˈsɪɲo], born November 15, 1968) is a Filipino activist, writer, and journalist. He was a member of theHouse of Representatives forBayan Muna. He is currently the chairperson ofBagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan).[1] On December 4, 2024, Casiño and 74 others filed the secondimpeachment complaint against Vice PresidentSara Duterte, citing betrayal of public trust for her office's alleged misuse of confidential funds.[2][3]
Born inDavao City to middle-class parents, Casiño finished elementary education atDe La Salle University (DLSU) in 1982. He continued his high school studies atLa Salle Green Hills, where his stint as a volunteer for theNational Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) in the 1986 snap elections swept him into the politics of People Power via theEDSA Revolution.
The EDSA experience, plus the stories about hunger inNegros, moved him to forego a DLSU scholarship to study agriculture at theUniversity of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), where he became an activist in his freshman year. He became editor-in-chief of the student paper,The UPLB Perspective, from 1989 to 1991, even as he consistently made it to the honor roll.
In 1991, Casiño was elected national president of theCollege Editors' Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), an alliance of over 700 student publications nationwide. He chose to delay his thesis requirement to work full-time for the CEGP. He eventually graduated from UPLB with a degree in BA Sociology in 1993, with his thesis bringing him to Pamplona town inCagayan Valley, where he studied the impact of Church activism on rural communities.
After his stint in the student movement, Casiño joined theKilusang Mayo Uno (KMU - May First Movement). His childhood ambition and his father's wishes for him to become a lawyer gave way to his activism. In 1996, he entered theUniversity of the Philippines College of Law but left three days later when it interfered with his work in the KMU.
After four years in the KMU, he joined theBagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN), the largest alliance of progressive people's organizations in the country. He was elected secretary general in 1999 and was catapulted to national prominence in 2001 as one of the youngest leaders ofEDSA II.
Casiño was appointed commissioner of the EDSA People Power Commission but was removed for constantly being critical of the administration.[4] He had a short stint in ABS-CBN'sHoy Gising! andThe Correspondents. In 2002, he was accorded the UPLB Distinguished Alumni Award for Extension.
As a writer, Casiño was a regular contributor to thePhilippine Daily Inquirer's Youngblood column from 1994 to 1996. In 1995, he became a regular columnist forBusiness World, one of the most respected business newspapers in the country. He also wrote columns for the tabloidsPeople's Bagong Taliba andFrontpage, the OFW weeklyPinoy Gazette, and the online magazineBulatlat.com.
In April 2023,Bagong Alyansang Makabayan held its 10th National Congress, in which Casiño was elected Chairperson. He succeededCarol Araullo, who had been the Chairperson since Bayan's 2009 Congress.[1]
In theMay 2004 elections, Casiño was elected as Bayan Muna's representative in Congress. With the re-election of Bayan Muna in the2007 partylist polls, he returned to Congress.
In 2013, Casiño ran for the Senate as an independent, nominated by the Makabayan bloc and receiving the support of SenatorBong Revilla.[5][6] He failed to win a Senate seat after finishing 22nd overall in the vote tally.[7][8]
Casiño is running again as senator for the2025 elections under the 11-person Makabayan bloc slate.[9]
In the 15th Congress, Casiño became the chairman of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Development, where he championed the welfare of micro, small, and medium enterprises.[10] As chairperson of the Committee, Casiño also spearheaded "Buy Pinoy, Build Pinoy!"—a grassroots campaign promoting the consumption of Filipino-made products and the development of integrated, world-class Filipino industries.
He is also senior vice chairperson of the Committee on Higher and Technical Education, safeguarding the youth's right to affordable and quality education.[11]
Casiño is one of the principal authors of four laws that have benefited the poor and marginalized sectors, namely:
Aside from this, he has authored a total of 178 authored and 376 co-authored measures, making him the 4th most prolific congressman in the 15th Congress.[16]
Casiño's main advocacy is the lowering of prices of electricity, oil, and water, as well as the regulation of the cost of education, healthcare, mobile communications, toll fees, and other basic utilities and services. Towards this end, he has filed bills on:
He has consistently opposed budget cuts in Philippine state colleges and universities, as well as the privatization of public hospitals and water districts.
As a relentless fighter of corruption and government abuse, Casiño is also the principal author of:
Casiño had also said that the Makabayan bloc[...] reached a consensus to make him run as an independent senatorial candidate next year.
