No hold-departure orders or adverse records stood against Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Pia Cayetano when they exited the Philippines, the Bureau of Immigration said, verifying that the two siblings have indeed traveled abroad.
The bureau stated that its files showed nothing on the pair, as of the day they left, that would have barred them under the law from departing. “Based on BI records, there were no hold departure orders or derogatory records against the two senators, as of departure date, that would legally prevent them from leaving the country,” it said.
Citing privacy protections, immigration officials declined to release anything further about the senators’ movements. “In compliance with the Data Privacy Act of 2012, the Bureau cannot disclose specific details regarding their travel, including their itinerary or other related information,” the bureau added.
The confirmation lands as a corruption inquiry involving Alan Peter Cayetano gathers momentum. Alan Peter was photographed at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 the night of September 9, boarding Singapore Airlines flight SQ 921 to Singapore, which departed shortly after 6:30 p.m., according to Philstar. Sources cited by the outlet also pointed to a separate immigration entry logging the senator on an earlier Etihad Airways flight bound for Abu Dhabi at 5 p.m.
His exit coincided with renewed scrutiny from investigators over the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. The National Bureau of Investigation says it found indications that the ceremonial cauldron built for the event was billed to the government more than once. NBI Director Melvin Matibag told radio station dzBB that fresh documents and witnesses had come forward, and that the structure — declared at P55 million — should reasonably have cost about P30 million. “We saw that there’s a double payment,” Matibag said, prompting the bureau to hold off on filing complaints against officials of the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee until the new material could be reviewed.
Cayetano presented himself as PHISGOC chairman during that period, though investigators note his name appears in none of the committee’s corporate filings, according to Matibag. The senator, who once described the disputed cauldron as a work of art, has dismissed the NBI’s efforts and denies wrongdoing.
Both senators earlier characterized the bureau’s announcements as an effort to lean on lawmakers while the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte remain underway. Alan Peter and his sister sit with the Senate minority bloc, and neither faces any standing arrest warrant tied to the cauldron matter — Singapore, for its part, holds no extradition treaty with the Philippines.
