Pia Cayetano on political dynasty: Elect people based on their capacity

Senator Pia Cayetano on Saturday said elective officials should be chosen on the basis of their qualifications.

This was the response of Cayetano when asked about her stand on the anti-political dynasty bill.

“I have a brother in the Senate. You can scrutinize his work, you can scrutinize my work, magkaiba yung work namin, magkaiba ang paniniwala namin. Nagde-debate din kami (we have different work and beliefs. We had debates),” Cayetano said on the sidelines of the Commission on Elections’ proclamation of the newly elected senators in Manila.

''I truly believe that people should be elected based on their capacity and this electorate has shown na kaya nilang pumili ng klase ng kandidato na naniniwala silang puwedeng manilbihan,” she added.

(I truly believe that people should be elected based on their capacity and this electorate has shown that they are capable of choosing the kind of candidate they believe can serve.)

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano is Pia’s younger brother. He will serve as a member of the Senate alongside Pia until 2028.

They are the children of former Senator Renato "Rene" Cayetano. The family has dominated Taguig politics for years now.

Cayetano said she is open to hearing the issues related to political dynasties.

“I am always open to debates…I am always open to [hearing] what the issues are, and clearly there are issues [about] dynasty,” she said.

“Pero naniniwala pa rin ako na kapag napakagaling ng tao eh hindi naman dapat siya agad-agad hinuhusgahan na hindi siya dapat maging elected official,” she added.

(But I still believe that when a person is very good, they shouldn't immediately be dismissed as not deserving to become an elected official.)

Cayetano will continue her stint in the Senate until 2031 after being reelected with 14,573,430 votes.  — VBL, GMA Integrated News