MANILA, Philippines — Former House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for senator on Thursday.
Cayetano, representative of Taguig-Pateros, formalized his bid at the Sofitel Harbor Garden Tent around 4 p.m.
He is running as an independent candidate.
“It is that spirit that I feel I will be able to contribute and help if I run again for the Senate or to run as senator for the Republic of the Philippines,” Cayetano said in a press conference at the Senator Renato L. Cayetano Memorial Science and Technology High School.
Earlier, Cayetano mentioned that he was seriously considering joining the presidential race. However, he noted that the move would be divisive, hence, no longer seeking the post.
“Yes, it’s 100 percent true na yung mga advocacies natin ay sure nating magagawa if ang tatakbuhin natin ay pagka-Pangulo. But the reality is napaka-divisive na,” he said.
(Yes, it’s 100 percent true that our advocacies will be fulfilled if we run for president. But in reality, it is divisive.)
In a recently released Pulse Asia survey, Cayetano held the second highest percentage in the list of most preferred senatorial candidates in the 2022 elections.
He was second only to Tulfo, who then topped the recent Pulse Asia survey of the most preferred senatorial candidates, garnering a 55.2 percent rating — Tulfo also filed his own COC on Saturday.
“The surveys are only a picture of what’s happening today, not tomorrow. Having said that, the reality is yung tumatakbo ka kasi may magagawa ka pag nanalo ka. So kung wala kang makitang path to victory doon, sinasayang mo lang oras mo,” Cayetano explained.
Cayetano was a member of the Senate for two terms from 2007 to 2017, where he was Senate Minority Leader from 2010 to 2013, and later became the Senate Majority Leader from 2013 to 2016.
He then ran in the 2016 elections as President Rodrigo Duterte’s running mate.
Following his loss, he later served as speaker of the House of Representatives in 2019, before giving way to Speaker Lord Allan Velasco in October 2020 in a term-sharing agreement they have agreed upon.