Senators Pia, Alan honor FVR for 'peerless public service'

Senator Pia Cayetano on Monday took to the Senate floor to express her admiration for the late former President Fidel V. Ramos for his achievements as President and elder statesman.

In a privilege speech after she and her brother Senator Alan Peter Cayetano filed Senate Resolution No. 90 expressing sympathy over the passing Ramos on July 31, 2022 at the age of 94, Senator Pia said the former President was a "hard-working" public servant and a friend to the Cayetano family.

The resolution was later adopted in its entirety by the Senate, with all members co-authoring it and expressing "profound sympathy and sincere condolences" on the death of the former President.

Sharing some photos of the Cayetano family with the former President, Senator Pia said Mr. Ramos was a health buff who would wake up before the crack of dawn to run.

"Like me, he believed that a healthy body supported a healthy mind... My dad (the late former Senator Renato Cayetano) heeded his early-morning invitations to play golf," she said.

Senator Pia said Mr. Ramos trusted her father's counsel, and it was "just a matter of time that he made my dad his chief legal counsel."

"My dad loved being a lawyer, and he loved giving advice to the President," she added.

The trust that the Cayetano family placed on the former President extended to the siblings, with Senator Pia and her brother Senator Alan Peter going to him "to seek his advice in (our) bid to run for the Senate. A lot of people went to see him and asked for advice,"

She said after their father died, she realized that it was through the opportunities that the late President gave to the family that "we continue to fulfill our father's impossible dream."

"I pray that he continues to be honored for months and years to come, because he was truly an inspiration to the youth of my generation and until now," Senator Pia added.