Senator-elect Alan Peter Cayetano on Wednesday said presumptive President Bongbong Marcos Jr. should be given a chance to prove his capability to lead the country in the next six years.
During his proclamation as one of the 12 newly-elected senators, Cayetano appeared to have toned down his criticisim of Marcos, his erstwhile rival in the 2016 vice presidential election.
“He was elected, he is set to be proclaimed, give him a chance, let’s see what he does then let’s judge it later on,” said Cayetano.
“Kasi, it is easy to judge him and his family before this. Malinaw ‘yun eh,” the former House Speaker added.
Cayetano was one of Marcos Jr.s’ fiercest critics during debates; repeatedly calling out the latter over his family’s alleged ill-gotten wealth.
While his position on the Marcos family’s questionable wealth still stands, the returning senator believes Filipinos should give Bongbong a chance and it’s now up to the incoming president to face the allegations.
“Hindi nag-iba iyon. I did not retract. The issues on the Marcos family will remain, and it is up for them to answer and for the media to hound them and hold them accountable,” Cayetano clarified.
“But he is elected, and let us give him a chance sa posisyon na ‘yun,” he further said.
Cayetano and Marcos both lost to Vice President Leni Robredo in 2016.
He was appointed later by President Rodrigo Duterte, his runningmate, to head the Foreign Affairs department before running again for Congress in 2019 where he was elected Speaker of the House.
Despite a low-key campaign run, Cayetano was among those who consistently ranked in surveys as one of the winnable senators leading to the May 9 election.
He went on to place 7th in the field of 12 new-elected members of the Upper Chamber with more than 19 million votes behind topnotcher Robin Padilla, Loren Legarda, Raffy Tulfo, Sherwin Gatchalian, Chiz Escudero and Mark Villar.
As for his possible alignment in the Senate, Cayetano has yet to decide whether to join the majority or the minority bloc and he said this would largely depend on the next composition of the Upper House.