Malacañang on Monday dismissed assertions by Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. obstructed his proposed ₱10,000 financial aid initiative, clarifying that the bill never reached the chief executive and comparing the vow to former President Rodrigo Duterte’s unfulfilled “jetski” pledge.
During a press briefing at the Palace, Communications Undersecretary and Press Officer Claire Castro emphasized that the proposal languished in Congress while Cayetano was a member of the House of Representatives, well before the current administration took power.
“Kung wala pa po siyang nagagawa, wala pong masasabing ni-reject ang Pangulo dahil wala po nga siyang nasisimulan,” Castro said.
According to Castro, Cayetano heavily campaigned for the initiative in 2021 with the goal of distributing ₱10,000 to each Filipino family. Despite his efforts, the program was never integrated into the national budget.
The Palace official further noted that Cayetano himself conceded in June 2022 that the policy was still awaiting legislative approval and had not progressed through the necessary congressional channels.
Castro insisted that the minority leader must own up to the legislative failure of his own initiative rather than placing the blame on the sitting president.
“Itong mga kahinement ni Senator Alan Cayetano, kabagalan at hindi… kakayanan sa pagtupad sa kaniyang pangako ay huwag niya pong ipahid sa ibang tao,” she said.
“Akuin niya mismo kung ano ang kanyang kakulangan.”
Palace officials took a swipe at Cayetano’s election rhetoric by drawing a parallel between his cash aid promise and Duterte’s prominent 2016 campaign vow to ride a jetski to the West Philippine Sea to plant the national flag—a pledge that was abandoned when the former leader pursued warmer ties with Beijing.
“Huwag niya naman sanang gayahin iyong pangakong ala jetski na pangkampanya lang,” Castro said.
The response from Malacañang followed allegations from Cayetano that President Marcos deliberately withheld support for the ₱10,000 aid program despite the state supposedly possessing ample revenues to fund it.