Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano on Tuesday challenged the bloc reportedly moving to remove him as Senate president, daring them to claim the numbers while questioning how those numbers were secured.
“If they already have 13, congratulations. We know how you got it—through intimidation, bribery, and threats of imprisonment,” Cayetano said in a Facebook live broadcast, referring to the majority needed to install new leadership in the 24-member chamber.
His remarks came ahead of a special session of Congress called by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., scheduled to open at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday. Cayetano said the purpose of the session was plain: to oust him from the presidency and wrest control of the blue ribbon committee from his camp.
He tied the leadership fight directly to the Senate’s investigation into anomalous flood control projects, which has implicated several lawmakers. “But we said that anytime you already have 13, you can take over leadership. However, our principles will not change. So my question is, if you get 13, are we going to erase the flood control issue again, or will we put it front and center?” he said.
Cayetano signaled he was prepared to give up the post, but insisted the blue ribbon panel should remain under his side as a test of his rivals’ intentions. “Actually, our group discussed that they can take everything — the Senate presidency and all the committees. But if they are sincere, they should leave the blue ribbon committee to us…” he said. He maintained that Sen. Rodante Marcoleta should stay on as head of that committee.
The dispute traces back to June 3, the chamber’s final session day, when a motion declaring all seats vacant was approved. That stripped both Cayetano and Marcoleta of their positions and opened the door to new elections, with Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian installed as Senate president pro tempore and Sen. Erwin Tulfo replacing Marcoleta atop the blue ribbon committee.
By the end of his broadcast, Cayetano had shed his titles entirely, asking to be called simply “Kuya Alan.” “This is your humble servant, Kuya Alan. I will no longer call myself a senator, and I will no longer call myself Senate president or whatever, because those positions don’t matter to me,” he said. He framed the label as a matter of duty rather than rank: “But I want to be seen as an elder brother, because an older brother is someone who protects his siblings. An older brother is also someone that our father and mother can lean on for help in taking care of the family.”
