Cayetano forms new political bloc ‘BTS’
By Mar S. Arguelles
Former House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said on Wednesday, Jan. 13, that the newly formed political bloc in the House of Representstives called BTS or Back to Service in Congress was aimed to transform the institution from the House of Politics to the House of the People.
Cayetano said the newly formed BTS in Congress was not meant to offend the members of the BTS, the popular K-pop band “nagkataon lang na we have coined our slogan to Bayanihan, Tapang at Servicio.” (It so happened that when we crafted our slogan it created the BTS acronym).
When asked to comment on the statement of angry BTS fans that Cayetano used the BTS in launching the political bloc to gain popularity, he said that he received mixed reactions “not all were negatives some said it was a welcome move, ipaglaban mo kami.”
Cayetano and his wife Cong. Lani met with members of an Evangelical and Christian religious group in Albay and Barangay Health Workers (BHW). They distributed boxes of groceries to 200 beneficiaries at the Albay Astrodome in Legazpi City.
The launching of the BTS was aimed to give the House of Representatives honest to goodness legislative service devoid of patronage politics, idleness, he said in an interview
Traditional politics is playing its role in Congress from the ideal setting of House of the People it mutated into House of Politics, Cayetano describe the current House set up.
The BTS would not engage in the traditional politics. The new bloc would focus on bringing legislative agenda guided by the organization mantra, the “Bayanihan, Tapang at Servicio.”
He said that the BTS bloc was similar to the Spice Boys where six members of the House of Representatives in 1998 joined forces and changed the way legislative business was undertaken.
The BTS whose members include former House chairmen and deputy speakers, Congressmen Mike Defensor, Dan Fernandez, LRay Villafuerte, Ranie Abu, Jonathan Alvarado, Fred Castro, and Cayetano will meet on Jan. 14 to formalize the formation of the new political bloc.
The group would scrutinize and open for debate the current House proposed measures such as the Covid-19 pandemic, vaccination program, Charter Change, Economy, and government service delivery.
Government has to focus on two things, first the pandemic and the vaccination, “Anything that has nothing to do with the pandemic should be set aside first.”
He suggested that national government operation should deliver to the public what he coined as BFF (Better, Faster and Forever) service.