After all these years, Cayetano’s prayers to God and the holy word carry as much credibility as a monobloc chair.
Many have doubted him, Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano he announced at a tentative press conference the next day an anxious evening in the Senate appointed by gunshots and the escape of Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa – wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the killing of the drug war – like a thief in the night.
But God, he added, has never doubted him.
I envy Cayetano and his conversation with God. I assure him that this is a blessed conversation between him and the Almighty. I have no right to question whether such conversations are real or just fever dreams, and I am not interested.
This, however, is getting boring. After all these years, Cayetano’s prayers to God and the holy word carry as much trust as the seat of unity.
Hypocrisy
Cayetano, a self-proclaimed ambassador of Jesus Christ, is a politician who quotes the Scriptures with astonishing hypocrisy.
There are many instances where the great gap between Cayetano’s profession of faith and the cause and personality he has championed has been shown.
What caused the strongest reaction were his remarks on March 20, during a hearing of the Senate foreign relations committee convened to deal with the dispute. the arrest and detention of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
It was in that session that he surprised the public by announcing, “More than being Alan Cayetano, or a senator, a former secretary of foreign affairs, a former speaker or a member of parliament, I believe I am an ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
He prayed the Lord’s Prayer to argue that governance should be in line with “God’s culture and God’s purpose.” He then went on to defend a man accused of mass murder.
He did not investigate the legality of Duterte’s detention in The Hague. He based his defense not on law but on theology.
These words show the boldness and deception of Cayetano, because how can a true ambassador of Christ ignore it families of the victims of Duterte’s drug war? Such a believer would demand accountability and speak for the voiceless. Instead, Cayetano invoked Duterte’s right to dignity and the presumption of innocence. This generosity of spirit does not extend to the thousands killed in the drug war, whom he had briefly referred to, when he was foreign secretary, as drug pushers. Once again he has asked for holy things to defend the non-religious.
This selective piety is not new. It ends his political career.
Cayetano brand
In a political career that spanned several administrations, Cayetano has ingratiated himself with whoever is in power, stabbing them in the back when they no longer help him advance his interests.
He has fallen from grace a few times. But if we focus on his way of thinking, these defining moments are God’s way of testing him. How he attains liberation falls outside the realm of doctrine. Plotting and plotting his way back to positions of power is his way of achieving what God has commanded. The truth is that he plots and plans for his own glory.
He has spoken publicly on “biblical ethics,” lectured pastors on how the Scriptures guide purpose and principles. He opens his speeches and public appearances with verse, and kneels in public prayer on official occasions. But when circumstances demand compassion for the poor, the defense of human rights, and a stand against a murderous regime, his faith wavers, or he simply remains silent.
Cayetano is not an example of a Christian public servant. Besides that. He is a politician who specializes in the eyes of faith. It is his political brand.
Accountability
The Gospel, which Cayetano willingly calls out, teaches love, justice, and the protection of the innocent. It speaks frequently and powerfully for the poor, the marginalized, and the victims of those in power. It does not provide spiritual cover for the powerful.
Cayetano uses the Bible to attack his enemies, to achieve selfish goals, to hide unchristian actions and show them as predestined. In the hands of this self-righteous and delusional politician, the Bible is just a recipe, its words are misquoted and misused to justify a selfish agenda.
Being an ally and defender of several regimes, Cayetano sees himself as irresponsible. He thinks that his political allegiance fills him with a sense of invincibility, a license to do bad things in the public interest. He considers himself untouchable. And that, for him, is the hope of God that works.
Cayetano has built a political career by using the Scriptures to falsely accuse people and destroy names and reputations, defend unjust killings, and justify the bad behavior of his bodyguards and associates. After a while, he will be judged before his God. For now, in the mortal world, perhaps it is time for accountability and reckoning. – Rappler.com
Joey Salgado is a former journalist and government and political communications specialist. He served as the spokesperson of former vice president Jejomar Binay.
