Saying that the House of Representatives has degenerated into a “house of politics”, Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano and six of his key allies during his days as speaker have regrouped to form a new bloc.
(PCOO / MANILA BULLETIN / FILE PHOTO)
However, Cayetano quickly allayed the fears aired over the formation of the BTS which the former speaker described as the acronym for “back to service” or Bayanihan Tapang at Serbisyo (cooperation, courage and service).
Cayetano also quickly addressed the protest aired by fans of the BTS, a South Korean pop, who accused his group of using the popularity of the K-Pop group for political ends.
The #CayetanoStopUsingBTS started trending on social media a day after Cayetano’s media group announced that his version of BTS will be launched tomorrow.
The former House leader admitted that naming their group BTS is one way of getting “people’s attention” but is not meant at offending fans.
“Iyong iba natutuwa, iyong iba nagagalit. Ang point gusto naming ibalik iyong isyu sa pinaka-kailangan ng ating bayan which are buhay and kabuhayan na ang lahat nakatali sa bakuna. (Some are happy some are mad. The point is we want to revive the priority issues of the nation which are life, livelihood that are all linked to the vac cine)” said Cayetano during a media interview.
“Dapat nang tutukan iyong serbisyo kasi nga from House of the People, naging House of Politics; from service naging pagtatrapo,” explained Cayetano as to the reasons behind the establishment of his BTS bloc.
The BTS will be launched in Quezon City during its introduction to the media today.
Among the members are Reps. Michael Defensor (Anakalusugan Partylist); Dan Fernandez (NUP, Laguna); LRay Villafuerte (NP, Camarines Sur); Raneo Abu (NP, Batangas); Fredenil Castro (Lakas-CMD, Capiz) and Jose Antonio Sy-Alvarado (NUP, Bulacan).
Aside from being Cayetano’s closest allies during his term as speaker, the six BTS co-convenors have one thing in common -- all were sacked from their respective leadership posts when Velasco took over as speaker.
Cayetano, it will be recalled, was relieved as speaker in October, 2020 when majority of congressmen voted to install Velasco as House leader following a bitter power struggle.
A senior congressman from the Velasco camp admitted that actions by the Cayetano group are "being watched" and cannot be ignored.
”But nobody in our group seems concerned about what they can do,” the source added.