By Argyll Geducos
Malacañang said Senator Alan Peter Cayetano should take responsibility for the failure of his proposed ₱10,000 cash assistance, stressing that the measure stalled in Congress long before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assumed office.
Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro refuted Cayetano’s claim that Marcos rejected the proposal, pointing out that it never advanced past the legislative stage.
“Kung wala pa po siyang nagagawa, wala pong masasabing ni‑reject ang Pangulo dahil wala po nga siyang nasisimulan,” Castro said.
She added that Cayetano’s “shortcomings, delays, and inability to fulfill his promise” should not be pinned on the President.
Castro noted that the proposal was first pushed while Cayetano was still in the House of Representatives but failed to gain traction and was excluded from the 2022 national budget crafted under the Duterte administration.
The Palace emphasized that Cayetano should have convinced fellow lawmakers to support the measure instead of blaming Marcos.
“Dapat siguro aralin niya pang mabuti iyan para ma‑encourage niya iyong kapuwa niya mga mambabatas para sumang‑ayon sa kaniya at maipasa ito, at hindi siya naninisi ng Pangulo,” Castro said.
