CITING politics-induced disruptions, Negros Occidental Rep. Jules Ledesma urged local government units in his province to declare Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano a “persona non grata” in their localities.
Ledesma cited reasons behind his call. He said recent incidents at the Senate adversely affected the functionality of the legislative branch, even as he described Cayetano as a “disgrace” to the upper chamber.
Among the incidents he mentioned included the ouster of Sen. Vicente Sotto III as Senate President and the failure to attend Senate sessions for three consecutive days, resulting in lost time that could have been spent on legislative works.
According to Ledesma, disrupting Congress has become Cayetano’s habit.
“Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano — you are a disgrace to the Senate and as a former member of the House — you’ve done this twice,” reads Ledesma’s Facebook post in reference to Cayetano’s stint as House Speaker from 2019 to 2020.
During his stint as the lower chamber, Cayetano agreed on a term-sharing deal with then-Rep. Lord Allan Velasco.
Ledesma further accused Cayetano of trivializing the role of being a legislator.
“For trivializing your duty as a legislator — I will urge the LGUs of the first district of Negros Occidental to declare you persona non grata. This is my ask of our district and I will get this,” Ledesma ended.
As defined, “persona non grata” is “a person who isn’t welcome” in a place where an individual has been declared as one.
