A progressive organization has criticized Senator Alan Peter Cayetano for likening his group’s political battle in the Senate to the struggle of late opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr. against the Marcos dictatorship, calling the comparison “laughable,” “insulting,” and “delusional.”
In a statement released Saturday, the August Twenty-One Movement rebuked Cayetano for using the iconic “Laban” hand sign, a symbol closely associated with the anti-dictatorship movement led by Aquino.
“The delusions of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano know no bounds, as he compared their so-called ‘struggle’ in the Senate to that of the fight of Senator Ninoy Aquino against the Marcos Sr. dictatorship,” the group said.
The organization further criticized Cayetano’s use of the “L” hand gesture during an Independence Day livestream, where he argued that his bloc was fighting for Senate independence and truth amid ongoing political disputes in the chamber.
“So take your ‘L,’ not as ‘LABAN,’ but as ‘LAPASTANGAN.’ ATOM said this is an insult to the values that Ninoy Aquino and the Filipinos who toppled the Marcos dictatorship fought for.
The group argued that Aquino’s political legacy was rooted in opposition to authoritarianism, corruption, and the absence of accountability, values it claimed are inconsistent with the political camp Cayetano currently belongs to.
“It is ironic that this camp, after having endorsed and danced for the Marcoses in 2022, now try to present itself as Ninoy’s heirs. You are not Ninoy’s heirs. You are enemies of the values he represents,” the statement read.
ATOM also mocked the senator’s portrayal of his group as political reformers.
“You are not revolutionaries. You are ‘delusionaries,’ a new term coined especially for your lot,” it added.
The organization renewed its call for Cayetano’s resignation and accused him and his allies of obstructing the constitutional impeachment process involving Vice President Sara Duterte while pursuing their own political interests.
