Camille Naredo

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano speaks to the media during a press briefing on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano speaks to the media during a press briefing on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. According to Cayetano, it was unclear on Sunday night whether Senator Ronald Dela Rosa would attend the Senate session; he was only informed on Monday morning that Dela Rosa was already on his way, prompting transport arrangements to the Senate.
Dela Rosa said he was advised to ride a van arranged for him, with both senators stressing that there was nothing illegal about the arrangement.

Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

SENATE- ALAN CAYETANO

Carlos Trazo

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178144358011920260513-senate-alan-peter-cayetano-MT9.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="Senator Alan Peter Cayetano speaks to the media during a press briefing on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News"/>Senator Alan Peter Cayetano speaks to the media during a press briefing on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News</div>MANILA -- Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on Sunday dismissed suggestions that recent tensions in the Senate are primarily about a leadership struggle, saying the issue could be resolved immediately if the contest were merely about who would become Senate President. In a statement posted on Facebook, Cayetano argued that the battle over Senate leadership is being used to distract from questions surrounding the alleged flood control scandal and efforts to investigate it.When addressing speculation that he and his allies are seeking power within the chamber, Cayetano said the leadership issue is secondary to the pursuit of accountability. &quot;So let me be clear about our stand. We did not take this position to seize power. This is not Game of Thrones. If it were only a contest for the throne, then let thirteen senators choose another Senate President tomorrow — the leadership question could be settled in a single afternoon. But that was never the real issue,&quot; he said.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/6/13/-laughable-group-rejects-alan-peter-cayetano-comparing-self-to-ninoy-1435">‘Laughable’: Group rejects Alan Peter Cayetano comparing self to Ninoy</a></div>According to Cayetano, the real concern is what he described as efforts to prevent scrutiny of flood control spending and the Senate&#x27;s role in investigating the matter.&quot;The real issue is why there is such determination to keep the truth about the flood control scandal from coming out: why the rush to control committees, why the pressure, why the attacks, why the endless distractions — why everything except a serious effort to answer the questions being asked. Questions we all promised would be answered,” he said. Cayetano linked the fight over Senate committees to the broader issue of accountability, warning against allowing investigations to be weakened or derailed.&quot;And no committee of the Senate should ever become a place where difficult questions go to die — where investigations are turned into instruments for laundering reputations or burying inconvenient facts beneath procedure and delay,” he said. &quot;The power to investigate is not a privilege to be guarded. It is a trust granted by the Filipino people, and it belongs to them,&quot; he added.Cayetano also alleged that powerful political and business interests are seeking to protect themselves from scrutiny, comparing the situation to a chess match in which ordinary Filipinos are treated as pieces on a board.&quot;Because if we are honest about what is happening, there are powerful interests — the kings and queens of this board, some of our political and business elite — who would prefer that the Filipino people remain pieces upon it,” he said.The senator claimed that the alleged flood control scandal had resonated with the public because of its scale and impact.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/6/8/cayetano-proposes-arrangement-with-gatchalian-bloc-over-senate-leadership-row-0951">Cayetano proposes &#x27;arrangement&#x27; with Gatchalian bloc over Senate leadership row</a></div>&quot;Every Filipino knows what corruption does. But this flood control scandal was so vast, so brazen, that it woke a sleeping nation. And so the new game is to lull that nation back to sleep — while pointing to a chosen few who can be made to take the fall,&quot; he said. Cayetano said the alleged misuse of public funds had consequences far beyond politics, affecting communities, public services, and trust in government.&quot;This scandal carries grave consequences. The funds meant to hold back the floods became a flood of their own. They flooded our homes and our business districts. They flooded the classrooms we should have built and the hospitals we should have funded,” he stated.&quot;The victims are not the dilawan or the DDS, not administration or opposition, not one party or another. They are simply Filipinos. The victim is all of us, as a nation.&quot; While acknowledging criticism of his recent remarks and public messaging, Cayetano maintained that the focus should remain on accountability rather than political infighting.&quot;What matters now is not who wins an argument online, or on mainstream media — that is a sideshow at the edge of the board. The real game is being played elsewhere. What matters is that we keep up the good fight — that we keep asking the right questions, keep demanding the complete answers, and keep pursuing the truth even when it becomes uncomfortable,&quot; he said. The August Twenty-One Movement on Sunday had protested Cayetano&#x27;s use of the ‘Laban’ sign — originally used to oppose the Marcos Sr. dictatorship — and said it should not be coopted in the rivalry between factions of the former UniTeam alliance of the Marcos and Duterte clans.The group — formed to show outrage after former Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr.’s assassination on August 21, 1983 — gathered at the Ninoy Aquino Monument in Makati City on Sunday morning to slam Cayetano and call for accountability on issues at the Senate and on corruption.Cayetano said that while the question of Senate leadership would eventually be resolved, public demands for answers regarding alleged corruption would remain. &quot;Finally, long after the question of Senate leadership is resolved — and it will be resolved — the corruption will remain. The floodwaters will continue to rise when it rains. The missing funds will still have to be accounted for. The Filipino people will still demand answers,&quot; he said.<div> </div>

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on Sunday dismissed suggestions that recent tensions in the Senate are primarily about a leadership struggle, saying the issue could be resolved immediately if the contest were merely about who would become Senate President.

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on Sunday dismissed suggestions that recent tensions in the Senate are primarily about a leadership struggle, saying the issue could be resolved immediately if the contest were merely about who would become Senate President.

'This is not Game of Thrones': Cayetano says Senate leadership fight 'could be settled in a single afternoon'

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'This is not Game of Thrones': Cayetano says Senate leadership fight 'could be settled in a single afternoon'

Carlos Trazo,

ABS-CBN News

Published June 14, 2026 09:35 PM PHT

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