Rep. Julio Ledesma IV (Negros Occidental, 1st District) said Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano is a disgrace to the Senate and as a former member of the House of Representatives.
Ledesma said he will urge the local government units of the 1st District of Negros Occidental to declare Cayetano persona non grata.
“This is my ask of our district and I will get this,” he said.
He said Cayetano has trivialized his duty as a legislator twice.
Ledesma said Cayetano committed “acts inimical and deleterious to the common good.”
“He held us hostage for three weeks. His acts are a redux of his stead as House speaker. He has demeaned both chambers spanning two administrations. Enough is enough,” Ledesma said.
The criticism that Cayetano “trivialized” Congress centers on two major leadership disputes where critics argue he paralyzed the legislative process to secure his personal political position.
During his tenure as House Speaker, Cayetano entered a gentleman’s agreement to share the term with Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco. When the time came to hand over the speakership, Cayetano resisted, leading to a bitter political standstill, his critics pointed out.
The second instance occurred during the current leadership battle in the Senate, when Cayetano as Senate president held a multi-day boycott of plenary sessions, leaving the upper chamber deadlocked at 11-11. The impasse was broken when Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero crossed over to provide a quorum.
Cayetano said the installation of Senator Sherwin Gatchalian as Senate President Pro Tempore and acting Senate President in his place on Wednesday was an “illegal coup d’etat”.
An online signature campaign (https://www.change.org/p/filipinos-deserve-a-better-senate-president-alan-peter-cayetano-must-resign) calling for the resignation of Cayetano as of Thursday afternoon had gained 65,380 signatures.
“The Senate presidency is not an ordinary political office. He stands as the leader and public face of one of the nation’s most significant democratic institutions. The position demands not only competence, but trustworthiness, truthfulness, integrity, and fidelity to the Constitution and the rule of law,” the online call for Cayetano’s resignation said.
“Today, many Filipinos across political lines no longer believe that these standards are being upheld by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano,” it said.
“At a moment of deep national uncertainty, the Senate must remain a credible institution capable of impartial judgment, constitutional courage, and moral leadership. It must never be perceived as a sanctuary for impunity, political self-preservation, or partisan obstruction,” it said.
“This is not about political camps or personalities. It is about protecting public trust in the Senate itself. When trust in its leadership erodes, trust in the institution inevitably follows,” it added.
Cayetano must resign, the petition said, because “The country deserves a Senate led by someone whose integrity is beyond question, whose words command belief, and whose leadership strengthens rather than diminishes the institution entrusted to him.”
San Carlos City Mayor Renato Gustilo, reacting to the call of Ledesma to declare Cayetano persona non grata, said, “We will support Cong. Jules if we have basis to do it.”
They should not hamper the holding of the Senate sessions because they have a lot of work to do, said Gustilo, whose city is located in the 1st District of Negros Occidental.
It appears to boil down to whether to proceed with the impeachment of the vice president or not, he said.
Cadiz Mayor Salvador Escalante, president of the Negros Association of Chief Executives, said the Negros ACE has not discussed what has happened in the Senate yet and the positions of the mayors will have to be taken.
“But the Senate now is not the Senate that we have known when the senators were Miriam Defensor Santiago and Franklin Drilon, who tackled the welfare of the people,” Escalante said.
“It is the people who voted the current senators into office, so we deserve what we get,” he said.
The people should not just vote for those who are popular and good talkers into office, their integrity should be the paramount consideration, Escalante said.
The Senate should be the last bastion of democracy, he said.
All that is happening in the Senate is because of the impeachment move versus Vice President Sara Duterte and too much politics, Escalante said.*
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