Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano Speaks Further on Thought of “Resignation of Gov’t Officials”
ALAN PETER CAYETANO – The Senator bared his condition amid his willingness to be the first to resign following the “snap election” idea he floated.
Countless Filipinos were left dismayed after some members of the Senate and the House of Representatives were dragged into the issue of flood control corruption. Both legislative chambers had a change of leadership amid the issue.
Sen. Chiz Escudero was ousted and replaced with Senate Pres. Tito Sotto in the leadership of the upper chamber. Escudero admitted to receiving a P30-million campaign donation from a contractor but tagged his publicized link as allegedly part of the “demolition job” against him.
However, after the then-Senate President earned several criticisms over the multi-million campaign donation, former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) undersecretary Roberto Bernardo claimed that Escudero allegedly received a P160-million kickback from the flood control projects.
Senators Joel Villanueva and Jinggoy Estrada are also accused of allegedly receiving kickbacks from the flood control deals. In the lower chamber, presidential cousin and Leyte Congressman Martin Romualdez stepped down from being the House speaker after the Discayas tagged him in the flood control corruption.
According to Romualdez, he wants the Independent Commission for Infrastructure or ICI to be able to fully implement their mandate to investigate without undue influence. Several other House members including congressmen Arjo Atayde, Marcy Teodoro, Roman Romulo, as well as resigned Ako Bicol Partylist Representative Zaldy Co are also accused of allegedly receiving kickback.
Amid the supposed multi-billion flood control corruption that dragged several names of government officials, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano floated the idea of a “snap election” with the resignation of the president, the vice president, and all members of the House and the Senate. There were countless responses telling him to lead the resignation.
Recently, through a press conference, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano addressed the calls for him to be the first to resign. According to the Senate Minority Leader, he is willing to step down as long as all of them will resign.
“Pangungunahan ko. Payag akong mauna, no problem. Mauna means lahat kami, walang nagsasabing ikaw mag-isa. Kung mag-isa ako, hindi mangyayari ‘yun. Ang ano natin national renewal, diba? So pag sinabi nating korap ‘yung media, lahat tayo mag resign. May mauuna talaga pero sasabay lahat. ‘Pag isa lang nag resign, walang mangyayari, di ba?” he said.
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano stressed that what he is allegedly asserting is that they, the government officials, will “sacrifice” through their resignation. Based on a post of Inquirer, he also claimed that the resignation is allegedly a proposal anchored on transformation which is better than revolution.
“Ang sinasabi ko, mag-sacrifice tayo… Gusto nila ako lang mag-isa? No problem kung ‘yun ang gusto niyo pero it will not solve the problem. The problem will have new hope if we do it all as a group. Kung gusto niyong mauna ako basta’t may assurance akong susunod kayo,” the Senator expressed.
Previously, Senate Pres. Tito Sotto reacted to the “snap election” remarks of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano.