Lawyers who graduated alongside Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano are urging him to revisit a Supreme Court case he himself was named in — one that, they say, contradicts his current positions on the International Criminal Court controversy.
The Ateneo Law Class of 1997, signing in their individual capacities, released a statement Sunday directed at their former classmate, appealing to the shared legal education and oath they took as officers of the court.
“We, therefore, appeal to our batchmate, Senate President Alan P. Cayetano, to remember what we were taught in the Ateneo and to adhere to our oath as lawyers and officers of the court,” the statement read.
Their appeal centered specifically on the case Pangilinan vs. Cayetano (G.R. No. 238875), which affirmed that the Philippines retains obligations to cooperate with the ICC for crimes committed during its membership. “We urge the Senate President to study carefully his own case of Pangilinan vs Cayetano (G.R. No. 238875) as the pronouncements therein belie the credibility of his dispositions and decisions as Senate President on the ICC controversy,” the batchmates added.
The lawyers also trained their criticism on the Senate’s handling of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, describing the chamber’s justification for sheltering him as “a criminal offence of harbouring a fugitive from justice dressed up with convoluted legal jargon to make it appear like the supposed tradition of ‘protective custody.'” They also called on Cayetano to surrender all CCTV footage from the May 13 shooting incident at the Senate to the Ombudsman.
Cayetano’s student political past has similarly come back to weigh on him. A joint statement from 152 alumni of two UP Diliman political parties — SAMASA and Nagkakaisang Tugon, the latter of which Cayetano was once a member as a university student councilor — demanded his resignation over the weekend. The two organizations have long been considered ideological rivals, and their statement acknowledged that the current crisis was what brought them together.
“When even one’s own political roots and former allies publicly repudiate one’s leadership, it reflects a profound belief that institutional and democratic boundaries have been dangerously crossed,” the alumni wrote. Former Ifugao representative Teddy Baguilat Jr. and former Finance undersecretary Cielo Magno are among the signatories.
Sen. Loren Legarda, who crossed over to back Cayetano’s ouster of Senate President Vicente Sotto III and was subsequently installed as Senate President Pro Tempore, has faced comparable rebukes from her own school communities. The student council of Assumption College San Lorenzo called to have her portrait removed from the school’s Wall of Empowered Women, saying her actions “no longer reflect the values that Assumption upholds.” The portrait came down within hours. Separately, the Assumption Alumnae Association — without naming Legarda — addressed all graduates in public office, asking them to let conscience guide them “more than convenience or political safety.”
The UP Broadcasting Association, which Legarda once led, also said her vote to install Cayetano “stands in contradiction with the principles of accountability, public service, and democratic responsibility that UP students are taught to uphold.”
Dela Rosa himself has acknowledged that Cayetano was the reason he surfaced from six months in hiding. On May 11 — the same day Cayetano was installed as Senate president — Cayetano personally accompanied Dela Rosa back into the Senate chamber. His return provided the new majority with its 13th vote against Sotto.
The Senate is set to convene as an impeachment court Monday afternoon for the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, who faces charges of grave misuse of public funds and betrayal of public trust, and is the first official in Philippine history to be impeached twice.
