Manila: Malaca±ang on Monday dismissed Senator Alan Peter Cayetano's claim that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. rejected his proposal to provide PHP10,000 in cash assistance to every Filipino family, stating that the measure never reached the President.

According to Philippines News Agency, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro clarified that Cayetano had been advocating for the proposal since his tenure as a member of the House of Representatives, well before Marcos took office in June 2022. Castro emphasized that the proposal did not gain congressional approval and was not part of the 2022 national budget, making it impossible for the President to have rejected it as Cayetano claimed.

Castro compared the situation to an unfulfilled campaign promise, explaining, "Kung wala pa po siyang nagagawa, wala pong masasabing ni-reject ang Pangulo dahil wala po nga siyang nasisimulan (If he hasn't done anything yet, it cannot be said that the President rejected anything, since he hasn't even started anything)."

Cayetano previously asserted that Marcos declined his proposal despite the government's alleged capacity to fund the assistance. Castro countered this by recalling Cayetano's own description of the measure as a mere legislative proposal in his June 30, 2022 statement. She urged Cayetano to take responsibility for not securing congressional approval for the proposal.

'Itong mga kahinaan ni Senator Alan Cayetano, kabagalan at hindi ... kakayanan sa pagtupad sa kanyang pangako ay huwag niya pong ipahid sa ibang tao (Senator Alan Cayetano should not foist his own weaknesses, his slow action and inability to fulfill his promises onto other people),' Castro stated, urging Cayetano to acknowledge his shortcomings.

Additionally, Castro drew parallels between Cayetano's campaign pledge and former president Rodrigo Duterte's unfulfilled 2016 campaign promise to ride a jetski to the West Philippine Sea to assert Philippine sovereignty. 'Huwag nya naman sanang gayahin iyong pangakong a la jetski na pangkampanya lang (I hope he doesn't copy that 'jet ski' promise, the kind made solely for the campaign),' Castro concluded.