Of all the lessons the late Senator Rene Cayetano taught his children, the one that struck Senator Alan Peter Cayetano the most is the importance of nurturing one’s faith in God and relationship with others.
“Na-interview po siya at tinanong, ‘Rene, sa lahat ng pinagdaanan mo, ano ang pinakaimportante sa buhay?’ Sabi niya, ‘Ang pinakaimportante ay quality of life — quality ng relasyon mo sa Diyos at quality sa mga relasyon mo sa mga mahal mo,” Cayetano said as he recounted one of his father’s last interviews two decades ago.
Speaking to hundreds of life coaches and Taguigeños who are part of the Kaagapay sa Pag-unlad (KSP), Cayetano said his father’s most important ambition was to be closer to God and to the people.
“In the end, sa lahat ng ambisyon ni Tatay, hindi niya sinabi ng ‘sana gumaling ako para maging Presidente, o lumakas para lalo akong yumaman, sana mas marami ang kotse ko’. Wala po lahat iyon,” he told the crowd that was holding its general assembly at Taguig City University on June 25, Sunday.
Kaagapay sa Pag-unlad, a program aimed at helping Taguigeños live a better life, was launched by Cayetano in 2010 as a Poverty Alleviation Program.
In 2020, it was relaunched as KSP and has continued to reach out the Taguigeño campuses, churches, and communities by means of providing training, scholarship opportunities, and various forms of assistance.
The event, in which hundreds of Taguigeños received assistance from Cayetano, was held a day after the Cayetano family commemorated on Saturday, June 24, the 20th death anniversary of the late senator who passed away in 2003.
Cayetano noted that his father’s lesson is similar to the two greatest commandments in the Bible. “Hindi ba it’s just a different way of saying the two greatest commandments?” he said, referring to Matthew 22:37-39 which says, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Speaking heart-to-heart with the beneficiaries, Cayetano said the life lesson from his father conveyed Jesus’ teachings about not being preoccupied with seeking food and other material things but seeking God’s kingdom first.
“Mga beneficiaries, members, at partners sa programang ito, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Lahat ng nasa isip ninyo — gutom, uhaw, kulang sa scholarship at pag-aaral, uhaw sa tamang ambisyon, sasakyan —sabi ng Panginoon, I will add that to you. Dagdag at libre iyon,” he said.
The senator said he will continue to stand with them in seeking God’s kingdom and helping them in their needs as his brothers and sisters in the faith from the City of Taguig.
“It is a pleasure for me and Lani to be a brother and sister to you and to minister to your needs. Kaagapay po natin ang mga barangay, ang siyudad, at churches dito sa Taguig,” he said.
