Lino Cayetano took his oath as Secretary of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday, October 13, and said his political differences with his siblings will not stop the family from serving the public. Speaking to reporters in Malacañang after the ceremony, he said the split with his brother and sister had not changed his outlook.
Cayetano was asked about his strained ties with Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Pia Cayetano, who are politically allied with Vice President Sara Duterte. “For me, it doesn’t change anything,” he said, adding that values are what hold families together. He declined to say whether he had spoken to either sibling about his appointment or how they had reacted to it.
The rift dates back to the 2025 elections, when Cayetano ran for congressman in the first district of Taguig-Pateros and lost to Ricardo Cruz, who had the backing of Alan Peter and his wife, Lani. Relations have since worsened. In October 2025, after the senator called for officials to resign en masse over the flood control scandal, Cayetano challenged his brother to set an example by stepping down himself. He has also called for no member of the Cayetano family to run in the 2028 elections.
The new PCO chief brings a long record in local and national posts. He has served as general manager of the state broadcaster PTV-4, mayor of Taguig, barangay captain and representative of Taguig’s second district in the House of Representatives. On his new role, he said he would ask the President whether he should act as a public voice for Malacañang. He described himself as “inclined to work behind the scenes”. He said the decision on how visible he should be would rest with Marcos, and that he would follow the President’s wishes on the matter.
Cayetano also used his first remarks to call for unity among the administration’s supporters. He urged them to set aside political lines and concentrate on programmes that help Filipinos, arguing that shared goals should count for more than party labels. He asked allies of the President to work together over the remaining two years of the Marcos administration, a period expected to be dominated by preparations for the 2028 presidential race and the continuing contest between the Marcos and Duterte camps.
