With Binay out, PDP-Laban bolting UNA

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Jejomar Binay’s decision to form his own political party has caused the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) to break away from the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).

Binay was PDP-Laban chairman.

In a text message, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, PDP-Laban president, said the party will send a formal letter to the leadership of UNA and the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) to inform them of the decision.

“VP Binay was the link to PMP and UNA,” he said.

“Now that he’s gone, we see no point for continuing that temporary coalition as of the moment.”

UNA is a coalition between the PDP-Laban and PMP that Binay formed with former President Joseph Estrada, now Manila mayor, for the 2013 senatorial elections.

Binay said the new party that he will form would be part of UNA.

PDP-Laban is a merger between the PDP headed by  former Senate president Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Laban of the late Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr.

In a statement, former Marikina vice mayor Doy del Castillo, PDP-Laban spokesman, said they will hold a meeting on March 13, the party’s 32nd founding anniversary, to discuss the new developments.

Party leaders thanked Binay for his numerous services and wished him well in forming his own political party to bolster his plan to seek the presidency in 2016, he added.

PDP-Laban wants to give the youth a bigger role in the party’s programs and projects, along with its thrusts to strengthen local governments through genuine fiscal autonomy and to establish a federal system of government, Del Castillo said.

Among the invited speakers are the elder Pimentel, Bataan Rep. Enrique Garcia and former Batangas lawmaker Hermilando Mandanas.