Alan Peter Cayetano: Anti-graft advocate takes shot at vice presidency

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano entered politics after being exposed at a very young age and inspired by the work of his father, the late Sen. Rene Cayetano, both as a lawyer and lawmaker.

 

In his biography posted on the Senate's website, witnessing his father mingle and work with "people from all walks of life" made him decide to enter politics even at a young age. 

 

Cayetano was only 13 years old when his father was elected as assemblyman representing Taguig, Pateros, and Muntinlupa.

 

In 1992, he became the youngest councilor of Taguig at the age of 22, while he was still pursuing his political science degree at the University of the Philippines-Diliman.

 

He sought Taguig's vice mayoralty post in 1995 and won, but he was officially proclaimed 10 days before his supposed three-year term of office ends. This short-term stint frustrated Cayetano and made him decide to run for Congress in 1998 to represent Taguig and Pateros.

 

It was during his stay at the House of Representatives that Cayetano started getting public attention, being a staunch critic of then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and then-First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo. He also acted as spokesperson of a group that sought Mrs. Arroyo's impeachment.

 

His vocal opposition to Mrs. Arroyo gave Cayetano the needed boost to land a spot in the Senate in 2007 after serving for three terms at the House of Representatives.

But his Senate victory came not without a controversy.

During the 2007 polls, one Joselito “Peter” Cayetano from Davao also filed his certificate of candidacy. Joselito was eventually declared a nuisance candidate, but since the Commission on Elections had already printed the ballots with his name, the poll body decided that it will not count votes cast as "Cayetano."

Alan Peter finished in the elections at ninth place with 11,787,679 votes while Joselito still got 510,366 votes. 

At the Senate, Cayetano became even more relentless against the Arroyo administration. He continued the investigations on the NBN-ZTE deal, fertilizer fund scam, and the alleged cash-giving scandal in Malacañang.

 

Among the bills pushed by Cayetano that became laws include:

 

 

Cayetano is also pushing for the passage of the Freedom of Information Act, which is now pending before the House of Representatives.

 

At present, he is one of the senators exposing and conducting hearings on the alleged anomalies involving Vice President Jejomar Binay.

 

Cayetano used in his recent infomercial, the advice of his father, who died of abdominal cancer in 2003, to stand up and fight for what is right.

 

He is the second of four children of the late Rene Cayetano and Sandra Schramm-Cayetano. The eldest is Sen. Pilar Juliana “Pia” Cayetano; third is Rene Carl, a former Muntinlupa councilor; and youngest is Taguig Rep. Lino Edgardo.

 

Cayetano, 44, is married to Taguig Mayor Laarni “Lani” Lopez-Cayetano. —ALG/RSJ, GMA News