Cebu visit Cayetano confirms intention to run for president in 2016

CEBU, Philippines - The national and local elections may still be more than two years away from now, but Senate majority floor leader Alan Peter Cayetano reiterated, in his visit to Cebu yesterday, his earlier revelation that he is eyeing the presidential post.

“Bakit sino ba ang ayaw? I am just being honest,” said Cayetano, a member of the Nationalista Party which is headed by former Senator Manuel Villar.

Cayetano confirmed that he already has Villar’s go signal to go around the country to strengthen public recognition.

“While it’s too early in the campaign mode but is not too early to get to know the candidates. Sabi nga ng presidente  yung ampaw mangyayari yan kapag malapit na  ang eleksyon saka ka pa nagpapakilala. Kasi, you do not have time to scrutinize a candidate. Kahit interbyuhin mo yan nang interbyuhin, ang ibibigay ay general statements, imagery ang gagawain. Hindi yung makilala mo ng tunay,” the senator said.

He is likewise confident that their party, NP and the party of President Benigno Aquino III which is LP, will have a fair mechanism in the end. 

“Sabi ng presidente huwag maging ampaw. Dapat may continuity. So, we agree with him, not in everything, but in most of the ideas on good governance. So, kung magkakaroon ng fair democratic way of selecting, maaring magpatuloy ang NP-LP coalition,” he said.

But the senator said, if the NP will choose its own presidential candidate and the LP will also have their own, then chances are nothing can be done about it.

“We have been together for almost ten years. We have been open-minded for ten years. I am expecting by the end of the year this idea will be clear,” he added.

Meanwhile, as part of Cayetano’s program to combat the high interest rates of “5-6” lending, the senator gave out a total of  P250,000 to an employees’ cooperative and to faculty members and students of a university in Cebu. 

Cayetano gave P150,000 as seed capital for the 180 employees of Wooven Designs Furniture in Tayud, Liloan and another P100,000 and P50,00 each for the faculty members and students of the Cebu Technological University in Cebu City.

They will use the amount as a loan, payable in three months with an interest not more than five percent per month.

Cayetano said that Cebu is the 20th area in the country provided with the private assistance.

“Hindi galing sa PDAF ang pera. It is money given by private entities na pinadaan sa akin. But I am hoping that the government will provide the same and (that) other entities will follow, in order to help the poor,” he said.

Last month, Cayetano also gave P200,000 as seed capital for the Cebu City United Vendors Association and he will be back next month to check the status of the project.

He suggested that instead of the government’s program on “cash transfer” that has a budget of at least P100 billion this year for indigent Filipinos, it is much better to give at least P1 billion for each region in the country as seed capital for cooperatives or associations.

In the May 2013 elections where 33 senatorial candidates vied for a spot, Cayetano was voted number one in Cebu and second nationwide.  (FREEMAN)