Senator Alan Peter Cayetano’s call for a snap election to “restore public trust” in government is not an act of courage. It’s a cynical ploy — a smoke screen designed to deflect attention from the deepening corruption scandal now unraveling around the flood control projects and infrastructure deals that trace their roots squarely to the Duterte administration and its favored contractors.
Let’s be clear: this so-called “snap election proposal” is not about reform. It’s about survival.
The same circle that dominated public works from 2016 to 2022 — from contractor couple Pacifico “Curlee” and Cezarah “Sarah” Discaya to their DPWH enablers appointed by then Secretary Mark Villar — is now scrambling to rewrite the narrative. Their flood control empire, stitched together through questionable contracts and sweetheart deals, has become a national embarrassment. The billions in bloated projects across Central Luzon and Metro Manila are being exposed one by one. And now that the public is demanding accountability, the architects of this mess are suddenly crying “snap election!” — as if a new vote will wash away the sins of the past.
This is not reform. This is evasion.
When Cayetano says he wants all officials, including the President and Congress, to resign and seek a fresh mandate, he’s not calling for moral renewal — he’s calling for collective amnesia. It’s a clever trick: bury the corruption under the chaos of a new campaign, then reemerge from the ashes as “reformers.” But the Filipino people are not as gullible as the Cayetano camp hopes.
Even his own brother, former Taguig City Mayor Lino Cayetano, isn’t buying the act. In a pointed rebuke that cut through the senator’s political theater, Lino said: “If Senator Alan Peter is serious about his call, he should be the first to resign—and more importantly, make a firm commitment not to run in the next elections.” The message couldn’t be clearer: stop preaching reform if you can’t practice it.
The Senate can do without a Cayetano. So can Taguig.
What Cayetano and his allies refuse to admit is that their grandstanding has nothing to do with the public good. This is the same bloc that tried — and failed — to hijack the Trillion Peso March last September 21. Their attempt to weaponize public outrage against corruption fizzled when citizens refused to be used as pawns in a power play. And when their call for the Armed Forces to withdraw support from the Marcos administration was met with a firm rejection by the military, they reached for Plan C: destabilize the system from within under the banner of “trust restoration.”
But as Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson rightly pointed out, a snap election will not cleanse corruption — it will multiply it. “Election, snap or regular, is not the solution,” Lacson said. “In fact, election campaigns actually add to more corruption — of the electorate by the candidates.” His words cut to the core of the issue: public trust is not rebuilt through premature elections, but through justice.
Lacson is correct — the real solution lies in the certainty of punishment. When corrupt officials are swiftly charged, prosecuted, and imprisoned, that’s when people start believing in their government again. Not when the same faces simply reshuffle their positions under a new electoral circus.
The Filipino people don’t need another election; they need accountability. They don’t need hollow calls for “collective resignation”; they need the corrupt held to account, starting with those who profited from the flood control scam — from the Discayas to their political patrons.
Cayetano’s call for a snap election isn’t a cure; it’s a cover-up. It’s the last gasp of a faction that has lost its grip on both moral ground and political relevance.
If Senator Cayetano truly believes in accountability, he should start with himself. Resign today. Don’t run tomorrow. And let justice, not electioneering, do the work of restoring the people’s trust.
