Pantaleon Alvarez

In an interview, Emelita Alvarez said “Actually I was abandoned right after Sona when he became the Speaker. We’ve been together for almost 30 years and I’ve been there since the very start that was in ’88. We’ve been through ups and downs, I’m there and people of Davao del Norte will testify that I was even the one who campaigned for him but anyway life should go on”.

Status: date transmitted to the Senate: 2018-03-20, date received by the Senate: 2018-03-20 House Bill No. 7303

Status: Pending with the Committee on Justice (since 2018-01-17) House Bill 6977

Status: Pending with the Committee on Government Enterprises and Privatization (since 2018-03-07) House Bill No. 7306

Status: Pending with the Committee on Government Enterprises and Privatization (since 2018-03-20) House Bill No. 7407

Status:Approved by the House on 2018-01-29, transmitted to the Senate on 2018-01-31 and received by the Senate on 2018-01-31 House Bill No. 6908

Status:Under deliberation by the Mother Committee on 2018-05-30 House Bill No. 6595

In finalizing the General Appropriations Act of 2018, Alvarez and his allies deliberately withheld infrastructure funding from the members of congress whom they find "undesirable". Alvarez states that it's unfair for the members who cooperate with him and the President to receive funding less than those representatives. The total amount of funds reallocated to cooperative members is suspected to amount to 11 Billion Pesos. When asked about the welfare of those regions who will be negatively affected by the reallocation of the budget, Alvarez was unapologetic and told the affected citizens in the regions to blame their constituents for the retaliatory budget cuts. Various members of the congress were alarmed and pointed out the dictatorial and vengeful nature of the Duterte administration and the alacrity in the leadership of Alvarez in perpetuating it.

Status: Pending with the Committee on Transportation (since 2017-12-13) House Bill No. 6776

Status: Approved by the House on 2017-03-07, transmitted to the Senate on 2017-03-09 and received by the Senate on 2017-03-09 House Bill No. 4727

Status:Pending with the Committee on Labor and Employment since 2017-02-20 House Bill No. 5018

Status:Pending with the Committee on Economic Affairs since 2017-09-08 House Bill No. 6339

Status:Pending with the Committee on JUSTICE (since 2017-08-16) House Bill No. 6204

Status:Pending with the Committee on Government Enterprises and Privatization (since 2017-09-08) House Bill No. 6349

In August 2017, Alvarez was declared "Persona Non Grata" by his own party mates in PDP Laban, Rogelio Garcia and Cesar Cuntapay, stating that Alvarez actions in reorganizing the party nationwide without authority and recruiting new members in exchange for favors severely damaged the party's credibility and Duterte's own legitimacy in his war against drugs. Benito Ranque, PDP-Laban deputy secretary general, states that the new members are not even educated or informed of the party's constitution and by-laws, in support of Cuntapay's accusations. There were also reports that the new politicians that Alvarez recruited are "narco-politicians", involved in illegal drugs manufacturing and trafficking. Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, PDP-Laban's president, however, denied the reports that Alvarez is persona-non-grata despite the numerous PDP-Laban members disdain for Alvarez and his insubordinate actions which violated PDP-Laban's own constitution and by-laws. Pimentel retaliated against Garcia and Cuntapay by ordering them silenced or be disciplined. Alvarez stated that "grumbling members" should either leave or he will "take care" of them.

On Monday, July 25, 2016 the opening of the 17th Congress He was elected as the 24th Speaker of the House of Representatives Speaker of the House of Representatives with 251 votes.

Alvarez began to take office as Speaker of the House of Representatives on July 25, 2016 to July 23, 2018. Committed to his political will in serving the Filipino people, he filed measurements and House Bills that will highly benefit the country. Listed below are the House Bills, their status and bills enacted into law Alvarez filed during the 17th Congress:

In 2005, Alvarez along with four other former DOTC officials were charged with graft before the Sandiganbayan in connection with the construction of NAIA Terminal 3. In 2010, the charges were dismissed by the Sandiganbayan Special Second Division due to lack of evidence.

From 2001 to 2002, he was acting Secretary of Transportation and Communications. Initially in favor of an independent Mindanao, Alvarez changed stance when Rodrigo Duterte talked about a federal Philippines with him. In 2017, Alvarez proposed a new set-up to spearheaded federalism in the Philippines.

In January 2001, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo appointed him acting Secretary of Transportation and Communications, where he served until July 2002. Among Alvarez's achievements were the adoption of the light railway expansion program, improvement of the Philippine National Railway, and computerization of the department and attached agencies. He also spearheaded the slogan "OKS na OKS sa DOTC" which means "Organisado, Kalinisan at Seguridad".

In 1998, he was elected congressman from Davao del Norte's First District. He served as vice-chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Communication and was a member of nine other congressional committees.

Alvarez was in private law practice from 1984 to 1986. From 1987 to 1992, he was a member of the staff of Philippine Senator Wigberto Tañada. He then became an action officer at the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA). From action officer, he rose through the ranks, becoming senior assistant manager and chief operating officer of MIAA in March 1995, a position he held until September 1997.

Pantaleon "Bebot" Diaz Alvarez (born January 10, 1958) is a Filipino politician and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from 2016 to 2018, and represents the 1st District of Davao del Norte, the Philippines. He is a stern advocate to shift the current centralized set-up of the Philippines into a federal form, pushing for the establishment of an indigenous state in Luzon and an indigenous state in Mindanao.

Alvarez was born on January 10, 1958. In 1978, he obtained a bachelor of arts (AB) degree from Far Eastern University. He then studied law and graduated from the Ateneo de Manila Law School in 1983.