I used to respect Pia Cayetano, a long-time senator of the republic. I do not know anything much about her, except that she is athletic. It’s probably because of that that I respected her. But I felt later like she was not really progressive because she seemed to resent progressives like Sen. Risa Hontiveros and the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives. That became apparent recently when she posted a spliced video that twisted Rep. Chel Diokno’s stance on the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte. That was also after Cayetano twisted Hontiveros’ call following the Senate chaos caused by leadership changes in the Upper Chamber.
But while Pia is not necessarily progressive, she is not a Senate loudmouth either like her brother, Alan Peter. That is why I do not necessarily dislike her until now when she seems to be showing her hand. She is standing with her brother in the Senate, especially on the Sara Duterte impeachment case. That is why she is being labeled now as a diehard Duterte supporter or DDS.
But an impeachment case is mainly political so Pia’s stance is par for the course. I would have given her that. But when she spliced a Diokno video, that broke me. I idolized Jose W. Diokno when I was in college and was learning to write better. I studied how the older Diokno wrote his speeches. He was a topnotch lawyer and a human rights advocate but he wrote well, like my other idol, former senator Jovito Salonga. And Ka Pepe was Chel Diokno’s father.
I remember those impeachment cases involving older politicians. There were times when public opinion changed as the extent of the abuses of those facing the cases were exposed during the hearings. There was even a time when it sparked one of those people power revolutions and effected leadership changes.
I therefore hope Pia Cayetano would put some brakes on her recent stance as a senator. I would not tell Senator Alan Peter that because I say that he always believes he is the superior Cayetano sibling. Not only that, he seems to me like he really wants to be president some day. And who was it who said that 2026 is the real presidential election year because it is the year that determines who will make it in 2028?
Alan Peter has been labeled a Sara Duterte defender because he supposedly wants to run as her vice president. But I think he has ambitions higher than that. Didn’t he already run for vice president? I think that what he is aiming now is the presidency and that he would only run for vice president in 2028 as a last resort and to stay relevant until after Sara’s run.
As for Sara, she is not leading the political surveys for nothing. Considering that the core of the DDS has remained intact, she has an advantage in her presidential run. But the same surveys show who could give Sara a run for her money. Among those named were former Vice President Leni Robredo and even one of the Tulfo brothers. Robredo, who is currently the mayor of Naga City is being pushed to run against Duterte but has not stated an open interest in the presidency. Will she or won’t she?