Malacañang on Monday rejected Senator Alan Peter Cayetano’s claim that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. rejected his proposal to provide ₱10,000 in cash assistance to every Filipino family.
During a press conference on July 20, Palace Press Officer Usec. Claire Castro said Cayetano should not hold the Marcos administration responsible for the stalled proposal, noting that the ₱10,000 cash aid measure was first introduced in 2021 while he was still a member of the House of Representatives, more than a year before the President assumed office in June 2022.
“Itong panukalang 10,000 pesos na ayuda sa bawat pamilya ay isinulong ito nung siya pa ay miyembro ng Kongreso. At nung hindi ito umuusad, ang una niyang sinisi rito ay si Congressman Alfred Vargas,” Castro said during a Palace briefing.
“Lumalabas na laging siya ang walang sala,” she added.
She cited several reports from 2021 and 2022 to support the Palace’s position, noting that Cayetano had already been advocating the proposal before Marcos assumed office on June 30, 2022.
According to Castro, Cayetano had been promoting the ₱10,000 cash aid proposal as early as May 2021. She also recalled that in July 2021, after the proposal failed to gain traction, Cayetano said, “Let’s give people 10K, not 10K excuses.”
Castro further pointed out that when the 2022 national budget was enacted, Marcos was not yet president. She said Cayetano had then expressed disappointment that the proposal was not included in the ₱5-trillion spending plan.
She also cited Cayetano’s June 30, 2022, statement describing the ₱10,000 cash aid as “a legislative proposal,” arguing that this underscored the fact that the measure remained pending in Congress.
“Dahil hindi ito umuusad sa Kongreso, muli naninisi siya ng iba,” Castro said.
She maintained that if the proposal would benefit the public and prove financially viable, there was no reason it could not be passed, provided it first secured approval from both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
“Kung wala pa po siyang nagagawa, wala pong masasabing ni-reject ang Pangulo dahil wala po nga siyang nasisimulan,” she said.
The Palace official also criticized Cayetano for making the ₱10,000 cash assistance a campaign promise despite its failure to progress during his time in Congress.
“Itong mga kahinaan ni Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, kabagalan at walang kakayahan sa pagtupad sa kaniyang pangako ay huwag niya pong ipahid sa ibang tao. Akuin niya mismo kung ano ang kanyang kakulangan,” Castro said.
“Huwag niya naman sanang gayahin yung pangakong ala jet ski na pang-kampanya,” Castro said.
