The “Laban” sign once flashed by Filipinos resisting Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s rule has found a new use in the hands of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, who raised the hand gesture during an Independence Day livestream Friday to signal that his Senate bloc intends to press on.
Speaking mostly in Filipino on his Facebook account, Cayetano framed the group’s ongoing disputes — over Senate control, the flood control controversy, and the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte — as a fight whose price he constantly weighs.
“You know, with what we are going through right now, not only for Senate independence but for the truth behind the flood control issue to come out, to fight against the administration, a little bit of silence is paradise for us. But the question is, is the cost worth it?” he asked.
His answer drew on a line he credited to Ninoy Aquino, the opposition figure assassinated in 1983. “I mentioned earlier what Senator Benigno Aquino said that the Filipino is worth fighting for. So that’s why now and then, I hope others would not get offended, I will really use the Laban sign because we have to continue fighting,” Cayetano said, forming an “L” with his hand.
The attribution, however, conflates two separate statements. Ninoy Aquino was known for declaring that the Filipino is worth dying for; the phrasing Cayetano cited — worth fighting for — is associated with his son, former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.
Cayetano cast his bloc’s situation as a continuation of the country’s anti-colonial struggles, calling it a “modern day version” of resistance against Spanish, American, and Japanese rule. He argued that colonization was never required to bring governance or Christianity to the islands. “So all of that were partially true, but you didn’t need to colonize a country to Christianize a country, right?” he said.
He also returned to grievances over how Senate leadership can be reshuffled. By his account, the chamber’s officers — including the heads of the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms, the Senate Secretary, the Senate President Pro Tempore, and the Senate President — should require 13 votes to replace, though a formula allowing 12 senators to act has since emerged.
That dispute traces back to the leadership turnover Cayetano led. On May 11, his minority assembled the votes to remove then-Senate President Vicente Sotto III, with Senator Ronald dela Rosa — absent from the chamber for six months — appearing to cast the decisive 13th vote.
The transition turned turbulent. Gunfire erupted inside the Senate on May 13, prompting Sotto and his allies to claim the chamber was under assault by NBI personnel posted at the neighboring GSIS building. NBI Director Melvin Matibag countered that GSIS management had requested the agency secure the premises against possible unrest spilling over from the Senate next door, both structures sitting within the same Pasay City compound.
Investigators later concluded that Acting Sergeant-at-Arms Ma.O Aplasca fired first at the NBI personnel, and described the response as excessive — even as Senator Jinggoy Estrada said the majority bloc considered Aplasca’s conduct justified.
Tensions resurfaced on May 26 when the minority walked out as the majority, with Cayetano and Senator Rodante Marcoleta, moved to amend Senate rules to permit online voting by absent members. The departing senators objected to the speed of the change and questioned why it came through a motion rather than a formal resolution.
The majority then skipped sessions on June 1 and 2. By June 3, House figures including Deputy Speaker Albee Benitez warned that a stretch of missed sessions risked breaching a constitutional rule barring the Senate from adjourning more than three days without notifying the House. The breach was averted when Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero of Cayetano’s bloc arrived to supply a quorum, after which vacated posts were filled — Senator Sherwin Gatchalian as Senate President Pro Tempore and Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri as Majority Leader.
Gatchalian defended the 12-vote threshold by noting that only 22 of 24 senators are presently available, with Estrada detained on plunder charges and dela Rosa treated as a fugitive.
