FILE — Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alan Peter Cayetano. FILE PHOTO
LUCENA CITY – Independent senatorial aspirant Alan Peter Cayetano wished the best for President Rodrigo Duterte should the country’s Chief Executive join the senatorial race in the coming elections.
“Whatever his (Duterte) decision is, I wish him the best,” Cayetano told journalists at the Quezon Convention Center here Saturday noontime.
However, Cayetano, Duterte’s running mate in the 2016 election, hinted that he preferred the President to just follow the footsteps of former president Fidel Ramos and become an “elder statesman.”
“Sometimes you don’t need a position to remain influential. And I don’t doubt he (Duterte) will continue to be influential in the days to come,” he said.
Cayetano attended the assembly here of the Alliance of Servants of Christ, an association of Christian religious pastors in the province.
Last month, Energy Sec. Alfonso Cusi, who heads a faction of the ruling party PDP-Laban, declared that they are convincing Duterte to run for senator in the 2022 elections.
Cusi’s PDP-Laban wing originally wanted Duterte to run for vice president with his long-time assistant, Sen. Bong Go, as president. But the President announced his intention to retire from politics.
On November 2, Go, announced that Duterte has not ruled out the possibility of seeking a Senate seat in next year’s elections.
“He is considering, studying it well. If it will help the country, he might. He’s considering running,” Go said.
On Friday, Malacañang confirmed that Duterte is “considering” his allies’ calls for him to run for senator in the 2022 elections.
Cayetano, the representative of Taguig-Pateros, ran in the 2016 elections as Duterte’s running mate.
Following his loss in the vice presidential race in the 2016 election, Cayetano later served as speaker of the House of Representatives in 2019.
He later gave way to Lord Allan Velasco in October 2020 in an agreed term-sharing agreement.