Raymond Mendoza

Raymond Democrito Cañete Mendoza (born July 7, 1962) is a Filipino lawyer, politician and labor leader, serving as the representative of the Trade Union Congress Party since 2009 and is currently one of the Deputy Speakers in the House of Representatives. Since 2016, he serves as the President of Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, the largest national trade union center in the Philippines.

Early life and education
Born in Cebu City on July 7, 1962, Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza was introduced to the labor movement at a young age by his father Atty. Democrito “Ka Kito” Mendoza, the founder of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines. and the Associated Labor Unions.

Mendoza was a Rotary Exchange Student to Vernon, B.C., Canada from 1977 to 1978 for his secondary education. He then earned a degree in philosophy at Immaculate Heart of Mary College in 1983. At the University of San Carlos, he obtained a Bachelor of Laws and Juris Doctor degree and passed the bar examination in 1999. He then entered the Ateneo de Manila University where he earned a master's degree in Business Administration in 2002.

He earned certificates from the International Labour Organization, completing the Financial Analysis Program for Labor Leaders in Turin, Italy (1995) and Occupational Safety and Health Course also in Turin, Italy (2000). He also accomplished the Advanced Leadership Training Course from the Singapore Institute of Labor in 1996.

Labor career
In 1995, Mendoza started work as an Executive Assistant of the Associated Labor Unions–TUCP. He became the National Vice President for Education and Information in 2001 and acquired the designation of National Vice President for National and International Affairs in 2008. Since April 2016, Mendoza has concurrently served as the President of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines and the National Vice President for Mindanao Affairs of the Associated Labor Unions.

Internationally, Mendoza, has been serving as a delegate of the Philippines to the International Labour Conference of the International Labour Organization since 2000. In 2016, he served as the Head of the Workers' Delegation and in 2023, he served as both the Head of the Workers’ Delegation and the Head of the Congressional Delegation of the Philippines to the 111th Session of the ILC. He also serves as the Titular Member of the International Trade Union Confederation-Asia Pacific Regional Council. In 2023, Mendoza was reelected as Titular Member and elected as the new Vice President of International Trade Union Confederation-Asia Pacific.

Political career
From 2001 to 2005, Mendoza served as the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Planning, and Ecosystem Research of the Legislative Liaison and Administrative Legal Services of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. He was the Head of the Philippines Governing Body in the United Nations Environment Program in Nairobi, Kenya in 2005. As Assistant Secretary in DENR, he was instrumental in the passage into laws of "Chain Saw Act of 2002" (RA 9175), Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004 (RA 9275), Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act (RA 9147), Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 (RA 9003), and in obtaining the concurrence of the Philippine Senate to the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

From 2006 to 2009, he served as a Director in the Philippine National Oil Company.

Mendoza was first elected as a member of the House of Representatives in 2009 under the Trade Union Congress Party; the political arm of the Trade Union Congress. Mendoza was one of the principal authors of landmark legislation: Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program Act which institutionalizes 4Ps as a national poverty reduction strategy; the Magna Carta of the Poor that guarantees the rights of the poor and establishes the necessary government interventions for poverty alleviation, and the Department of Migrant Workers Act which establishes the DMW as the single home for all the needs and concerns of the Overseas Filipino Workers. He is also pushing for the passage of the Security of Tenure Bill which seeks to end the prevalent and abusive practice of labor-only contracting.

In the 15th Congress, he served as Chairperson of the Committee on Poverty Alleviation and as vice chairperson of the Committee on Labor and Employment and the Committee on People's Participation.

In the 16th Congress, he served as chairperson in the following committees: Committee on East ASEAN Growth Area from August 2013 to June 2014, Special Committee on Food Security from July to October 2015, and the Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs from October 2015 to June 2016. He also served as the Senior Vice Chairperson of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Bangsamoro Basic Law and the Vice Chairperson of the Committee on Labor and Employment. He was also a member of the Commission on Appointments from July 2014 to June 2015.

In the 17th Congress, he served as the Chairperson of the Committee on Poverty Alleviation.

In the 18th Congress, he served as the Chairperson of the Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs and as Vice Chairperson of the Committee on Labor and Employment and the Committee on Civil Service and Professional Regulation.

He was also a member of the Philippine delegation to the 36th ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly General Assembly held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in September 2015 and to the 24th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit and the 10th Brunei Darussalam–Indonesia–Malaysia–Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area Summit in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar in May 2014.

Currently, in the 19th Congress, he serves as a Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.

In the 43rd ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly General Assembly held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in November 2022, Deputy Speaker Mendoza served as Head of the Philippine Delegation. In the 146th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly held in Manama, Bahrain in March 2023, he served as the Head of the Congressional Delegation. In the 44th AIPA General Assembly held in Jakarta, Indonesia in June 2023, Deputy Speaker Mendoza also served as Head of the Philippine Delegation

Advocacy for the Veterans
Deputy Speaker Mendoza serves as the National President of the Veterans Foundation of the Philippines - Sons and Daughters Association. Being the son of the WWII veteran and Gold Cross awardee, the late Colonel Democrito T. Mendoza, Deputy Speaker Mendoza continues to lead in championing the legacy and sacrifices of our veterans and as well as ensuring the welfare of their heirs through his dedicated service and leadership as the National President of VFP-SDAI.

Personal life
Mendoza is married to North Cotabato Governor Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza. He is the father of the Representative of the 3rd District of Cotabato and Assistant Majority Leader Ma. Alana Samantha Santos, and Emilio Ramon Mendoza.

Deputy Speaker Mendoza is also a military reservist with the rank of major in the Reserve Force of the Philippine Army.