Cayetano slams alleged alliance of Poe, LP vs Duterte

MANILA, Philippines – Senator and vice presidential bet Alan Peter Cayetano has denounced the alleged alliance between Sen. Grace Poe and the Liberal Party (LP) against his running mate, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, which he said, is in line with black propaganda efforts to ruin the mayor's image as a leading presidential candidate.

“Our rivals claim that they are not corrupt. They present themselves to the people as crusaders against corruption. They maliciously accuse Mayor Duterte of amassing ill-gotten wealth. And yet, they are the ones who are willing to spend millions worth of money just to ruin his image,” Cayetano said.

“I believe that our people know who the real enemies are. Those who are afraid of the radical change that Mayor Duterte can bring, those who resort to desperate ploys such as this, they are the ones whom we should watch out for. They have all the reasons to be scared. Change is coming,” he said.

Meanwhile, Cayetano called on voters to be vigilant for possible cheating on election day as he slammed the sacking of a police chief for alleged involvement in partisan politics.

Cayetano said they had received reports of unusual movement or mobilization that could possibly lead to attempts to rig the election results, especially in the vote-rich provinces.

"One target is Cebu. We know that there were police officers who implemented the orders of Gen. Generoso Garbo to harass the Garcias in the 2013 elections. We have received word that the same police officers are now being positioned to do more damage in the 2016 elections against one Cebu candidates. These police officers are the following: PSupt. George Ylanan (Chief- RSOG); PSupt. Clifford Gairanod (PD); PSupt. Rex Direlo (R2); PSupt. Marvin Sanchez ( RAIDSOT) and PSupt. Rodolfo Albutra (PIB),” he said.

“We ask authorities to just do their job of ensuring that the voting and the counting would be peaceful and reflect the true sentiments of the people. At the same time, I ask our people to go out and vote on May 9 and be vigilant. Let's start change from the voting itself," he added.

Meanwhile, Cayetano also urged the Philippine National Police to reconsider the relief of Chief Superintendent Ronald dela Rosa as head of the 5,000 strong PNP Reactionary Standby Support Force (RSSF) on mere suspicion of electioneering.

Dela Rosa is a former chief of the Davao City Police and said to be close to Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

Cayetano said the PNP appears to have relieved dela Rosa from his post simply because he used to be assigned in Davao City and had been close to Duterte.

"The basis for dela Rosa's relief is a Facebook post where he vowed to crush any attempt to cheat during the election. That is what the police are supposed to do. What’s wrong with that?" Cayetano asked.

"So why was dela Rosa unceremoniously relieved for saying that he would uphold the law and prevent fraud on May 9? Has the PNP been given marching orders to ensure that only administration bets should win by hook or by crook?" he added.