Senator Alan Peter Cayetano. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA
MANILA, Philippines — After his ratings dropped in September, Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano said he is no longer certain about running for president in 2016.
From 5 percent in June, this year, Cayetano’s rating fell to 1 percent in the latest Pulse Asia survey conducted last September.
“All politicians want to run, but whether (I’m) running in 2016, I don’t know,” he told reporters in an interview in Makati City on Friday.
“With the present ratings ngayon, sino ang tatakbo na ang ratings mo ay mababa (Who will run with ratings that low)? But when I do investigations, I don’t really care about the consequences or about the ratings,” he said.
Cayetano, and Senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, are the only members of the Senate participating in its ongoing investigation into the allegedly anomalous construction of the Makati City 2 parking building involving Vice President Jejomar Binay.
And while he said every political group would want its member to field its own bet for the highest position of the land, Cayetano acknowledged that forming a coalition will always be an option if the preferred bet would not rank high in the surveys.
“Bawat partido gusto nila kapartido pero kung hindi ‘yun ang pinakamalakas, nagka coalition,” said the senator, who belongs to the Nacionalista Party, being headed by former Senator Manny Villar.
(Every party wants to field its own bet, but when he is not that strong, it enters a coalition.)
“So I’m not closing the doors,” he said. “But if ang intention ko lang ay tumakbo para presidente hindi na ako nakihalo dito kasi Senator Trillanes, gagawin n’ya ito with or without me. And everyone told me ‘wag ka nang humalo d’yan sisiraan ka (But if my intention for doing this probe is raise my stock in running for president, then I wouldn’t have done it because Senator Trillanes would have done it with or without me. And everyone told me not to meddle into this anymore because people will just disparage me).”
Cayetano insisted that the Senate probe against Binay was being done in the search for the truth.
“What the consequences are, will people give me more support or less support? I don’t really care…” he said.
“I’m happy anywhere we are. In fact, ang focus naming mag-asawa ngayon (The focus of my wife and I) is not the presidency but to have a baby,” said the senator.
He also reiterated that he would rather be a senator or mayor than a vice president.
“Ang problema kasi sa vice president, unless super close ka sa president, you can’t really implement your plan. So sabi ko nga, I’d rather be a senator or maybe a mayor than a vice president but mahirap magsalita ng tapos,” Cayetano added.
(The problem with being vice president is, unless you are close to the president, then you won’t really be able to implement your plans. As I said, I’d rather be a senator or maybe a mayor than a vice president, but I am not saying this with finality.)
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