Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on Friday blasted a report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) which showed him as the runner-up to the biggest donors of President Rodrigo Duterte’s presidential bid.

Cayetano, who explained that his contributions were in the form of television commercials, criticized the PCIJ for trying to “mislead” the public, and that the news outfit should have called him so that questions on his Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) would no longer be necessary.

The former running mate of Duterte has been criticized for his donations of over P71.3 million to the former’s campaign.

“Kung tinawagan nila ako e di nasagot ko sila at di na nila pinakita ang SALN. Yung pong donations sa akin, ipinambili ko ng commercial,” Cayetano said in an interview at dzMM Friday.

He said he included then-Davao City Mayor Duterte in his commercials since the latter was hesitant to run at first.

Cayetano said he gave the President additional airtime in their joint commercials when he noticed that Duterte had a bigger chance of winning the elections than him.

“Then, nung bandang huli siya may laban na maganda ako patalo na, dinagdagan ko po yung oras na andun siya. So yun po yung kinount ng Comelec na donation ko kay President Duterte,” Cayetano said.

“Ni singko dun hindi cash. Pero hindi nga tinanong so wala talagang kinalaman sa aking SALN,” he added.

CABINET POST?

The senator also hinted at a possible appointment at the Department of Foreign Affairs next year, after the lifting of the election ban.

Though he says that he does not want to get ahead of the President, Cayetano said Duterte already told him of the DFA appointment in their previous meeting.

“Lahat ito ay bunga nung pagbubukas ng relationship sa China at sa Russia. Bilang chairman ng [Senate] foreign relations committee at running mate niya, napakaraming opportunity at trabaho so kulang kung DFA lang,” he said.

“Tinali ko na ang aking political career sa success niya (Duterte) kaya tinotodo ko na ang tulong.”

Cayetano also urged the PCIJ and other news agencies to look into the campaign expenses of Vice President Leni Robredo since she had even bigger expenses than other candidates.

‘STOP CAMPAIGNING, THINKING OF PRESIDENCY’

Meanwhile, Cayetano defended his apparent silence during the heat of the Marcos controversy, saying he was on a plane with the President when the burial happened and was preparing for meetings with China and Russia during the protests.

Robredo had urged Cayetano to speak up against the Marcos burial since the latter was very vocal about the issue during the election campaign.

He said he has already responded to Robredo saying: “Thank you for the challenge, Ma’am Leni. Let me assure you I am doing what I can in the manner I believe will be most effective.”

Cayetano also challenged Robredo to “stop campaigning and thinking of the presidency,” and work on issues such as calling out members of the Liberal Party who are linked to illegal drugs, graft and corruption, to resign, ask for justice for the fallen SAF 44 and “tanim-bala victims,” and the anomalies of public transportation particularly the MRT.

“I challenge you to stop campaigning and thinking of the presidency and help attract investments, build infrastructure, create jobs and redistribute wealth and let’s do it together,” Cayetano told Robredo.