Sen. Alan Cayetano must step down to spark his resignation call – brother
Former Taguig City Mayor Lino Cayetano is shown in this photo taken on October 3, 2024 as he files his Certificate of Candidacy for representative of Taguig-Pateros district. —LYN RILLON
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano should lead his own call for mass resignation of elective officials by stepping down from office, his brother and former Taguig City Mayor Lino Cayetano dared.
Sen. Cayetano, in a Facebook post on Sunday, floated a “what if” scenario for the president, vice president, House and Senate lawmakers to resign and allow a snap election, a method he believed would lead to a “clean slate.”
“I support this proposal. I agree with my brother Alan and ask that we start with ourselves,” Cayetano said in a Facebook post on Sunday. “Give up power.”
“If you truly believe what you say, then trust and have faith that if some of the old guard step down now – it will inspire others to follow,” he added.
Under Cayetano’s proposal — which he said is an alternative to a “people power” — governors, mayors and barangay chairpersons would remain in their posts.
The former mayor said Cayetano’s proposal “can work – BUT it starts with one.”
“Be that one Sen Alan and you will be remembered by all sides as someone who laid the groundwork for real change,” he further said.
Such calls emerged following a major corruption scandal involving flood control infrastructure that has prompted ongoing Senate probe and the formation of an independent commission to investigate the suspected collusion between lawmakers, government officials and contractors to embezzle billions of pesos from the country’s coffers.
Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson revealed that “almost all” senators in the 19th Congress inserted at least P100 billion worth of items in the 2025 General Appropriations Act.
Furthermore, Lacson said budget insertions of House lawmakers are “much, much more” than the senators.
While insertions or amendments are not necessarily illegal, congressional inquiries revealed that this measure was often used for multi-million flood control projects, which were later on discovered to be substandard due to overhead costs incurred for alleged kickbacks of senators and House lawmakers. /apl
