MANILA, Philippines — Senators Alan Peter and Pia Cayetano returned to the country on Saturday night following a brief trip to Singapore that drew public scrutiny.
Hours after arriving in Manila, Alan took to Facebook Live to accuse Sen. Panfilo Lacson of unjustly targeting his family and their bailiwick.
“Perhaps we didn’t think it would be this severe, that there would be this much hardships, this much accusations, that is being done by Sen. Lacson. I don’t know what to call it anymore, but the persecution is not only aimed at me and my family, but to our beloved city of Taguig. I leave this to God,” he said.
Lacson, in recent weeks, has continuously linked Alan to anomalous infrastructure projects in Taguig, including an alleged reclamation of Laguna de Bay. The Office of the Ombudsman is currently investigating the matter.
The National Bureau of Investigation is also looking at Alan’s involvement in alleged corruption during the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, which the Philippines hosted.
The younger Cayetano sibling dismissed controversies surrounding his overseas travel amid the ongoing probe, defending it as a “routine quiet short trip” meant for rest.
He emphasized that the Bureau of Immigration and the ombudsman found no legal impediment to his departure.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri previously said Alan’s trip was for health reasons.
Pia, on the other hand, said she went to Singapore to support the Philippine National Padel Team as it prepared for the Asian Games in Japan.
The Cayetano siblings left Manila for Singapore on the evening of Sept. 9.