Cayetano: Cabinet post for Marcos ‘speculation’

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/JILSON SECKLER TIU

DAVAO CITY—Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano on Sunday said talk of a possible Cabinet post for Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. a year from now was “all speculation.”

Cayetano, President-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s defeated running mate, said talking about possible appointments by the next chief executive next year was “not relevant,” as a lot of things could happen before the one-year ban on appointments of defeated candidates expires.

“I haven’t heard that there was a formal offer. It was all speculation,”‘ Cayetano told the media in an interview here.

Marcos, the son and namesake of the late dictator, said the possibility of working in the incoming administration was one of the things he and Duterte discussed during a four-hour meeting at a restaurant-bar here Friday. Marcos said the details had yet to be ironed out.

For its part, the camp of Vice President-elect Leni Robredo said Marcos had practically admitted he lost the election when he discussed the prospect of a Cabinet post with Duterte.

It will mean “political suicide” for him to accept a Cabinet post while his electoral protest is pending, according to election lawyer and Robredo’s lead counsel Romulo Macalintal.

 ‘Concentrate on protest’

“If Marcos believes he has strong evidence to prove that he was cheated in the election, then he should concentrate on his election protest and not seek a position lower than the vice presidency,” Macalintal said.

On Saturday, Marcos announced his plan to file an electoral protest against Robredo, a Liberal Party member, and accused the Aquino administration of “institutional” cheating.

Marcos said he believed some three million votes were shaved off his final tally. He lost to Robredo by some 260,000 votes.

Asked if he thought Marcos deserved to be one of Duterte’s “best and brightest” Cabinet members, Cayetano said it did not matter what he thought, as it was the President-elect’s prerogative to appoint anyone he deems qualified.

“So let’s just focus on June 30, when he takes over. Within six months, you will feel safe in the streets, safe at home,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Marcos camp on Monday maintained that Robredo was just warming the vice presidential seat for the senator.

In a statement, Abakada party-list Rep. and Marcos campaign adviser Jonathan de la Cruz took exception to Macalintal’s statement that the protesting candidate was admitting his defeat in accepting a Cabinet position.

“Such statement smacks of desperation coming on the heels of the Liberal Party’s non-filing of a SOCE (statement of contribution and expenditures),” De la Cruz said.