BIZ BUZZ: PH execs join call for Cayetano to resign
A number of former student leaders from the University of the Philippines who have gone on to take important positions in the business sector have joined strident calls for newly minted Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano to resign due to his “profound failure of judgment, leadership and institutional responsibility during one of the most embarrassing episodes in recent Senate history.”
Among those who signed the joint letter of rival UP Diliman student parties Samasa and Nagkaisang Tugon alumni calling for the resignation of Cayetano—himself a former UP student leader—is JJ Samuel Soriano.
Soriano is chair and CEO of Soriano Trust Co., Ltd., which is heavily involved in consulting for major Japanese companies, including sogo soshas (general trading companies), property developers and companies in finance, energy and retail.
He is the first Filipino member of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Japan-Philippines Economic Cooperation Committee. He also served in various capacities in building and strengthening relations between the Philippines and Japan, one of the country’s largest sources of investments, development funds, as well as tourists.
Soriano was also one of the founders of Tugon, Cayetano’s former student political party.
Another signatory is Jose Fernando Alcantara, former top executive of the Philippine Stock Exchange, immediate past executive vice president of UP and current Executive Director of Chamber of Commerce of the Philippine Islands (CCPI).
The strongly worded open letter signed by Soriano, Alcantara and another 150 former student leaders said that under Cayetano’s watch, the Senate “transformed itself from a constitutional institution into a stage for political theater, confusion and brinkmanship.”
“If Cayetano still possesses a sense of political responsibility and yes, shame, he should recognize the damage he and this episode have done to the Senate,” the letter said, “He must—of his own accord or by force from his peers—resign.”
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