Pacquiao to join Partido Reporma?

MANILA, Philippines — Will Sen. Manny Pacquiao bolt the PDP-Laban and join Partido Reporma of former House speaker Pantaleon Alvarez?

Former Camarines Sur congressman Rolando Andaya Jr. has raised this possibility as Pacquiao is expected to be ousted as acting president of the ruling party later this month.

“I heard that the group of Senator Pacquiao will be joining the group of former speaker Alvarez,” Andaya told House reporters in an interview via Zoom last Thursday.

Andaya said such information came from Davao, but clarified that it remains “speculation.”

“I think it sounds logical if the group of Senator Manny will leave PDP-Laban and join Partido Reporma. That’s an established party, that’s a logical choice,” the former majority leader commented.

He said the political scene is starting to become a “circus.”

“It’s actually everybody trying to find a way to forcibly fit in a group they are not really compatible with,” Andaya said.

Alvarez, who also bolted PDP-Laban last year, earlier said Partido Reporma is set to field its presidential and vice presidential bets for the May 2022 national elections.

“We are coming up with Partido Reporma’s candidates through a national convention to be held by early August or September before the filing of the certificates of candidacy by October,” he bared.

Alvarez said the party founded by former defense secretary Renato de Villa in the 1998 polls “will continue and improve what past administrations have done right, vigorously reform what went wrong and discover what else must be done to attain what we, as a people, yearn for.”

Meanwhile, Andaya claimed that the possible tandem of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte and former defense secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. is firming up.

“The group of Sara-Gibo will move forward and all of these things we will just watch,” he added.

Andaya said Teodoro is set to return to Davao City today to have his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and again meet with Mayor Duterte.

Frigate acquisition corrupt?

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana is turning the tables on Pacquiao, daring the senator to show proof of his allegations that the acquisition of new frigates for the Philippine Navy was marred by corruption.

“Since you seem to be so sure of your allegations, it would be much appreciated if you could provide details of this alleged corruption,” Lorenzanas said in a statement issued Thursday night.

Lorenzana was reacting to how the senator allegedly accused the Department of National Defense (DND) of being one of the agencies under the Duterte administration that is involved in or had questionable deals or transactions.

The military acquired two brand new missile-capable frigates from South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries under a P16-billion Frigate Acquisition Project.

BRP Jose Rizal was delivered in July 2020 while its sister ship, Antonio Luna, arrived in the country last February.

Both warships – boasting advanced anti-surface, anti-air, anti-submarine and even electronic warfare capabilities – are already being utilized by the Philippine Navy.

Lorenzana reminded Pacquiao that the frigate deal had been thoroughly investigated by the Senate in 2017 and nothing anomalous was found.

“In fact, you were in one of the hearings, Senator,” Lorenzana said. “By the way, Senator, those frigates were delivered last year ahead of schedule and they passed the Navy’s Technical Inspection and Acceptance Committee.”

Told that Pacquiao’s camp has reportedly denied making corruption allegations against the DND’s frigate deal, Lorenzana said, “Really? They can tell that to the Marines.”

‘Back your evidence’

To land a knockout against alleged corruption in the Duterte administration, Pacquiao should make sure exposés are backed by solid evidence, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said yesterday.

Lacson said this was the advice he and Senate President Vicente Sotto III gave Pacquiao when they met on Thursday upon the request of the boxing icon.

“Our advice to him was to make sure the evidence he has is substantial, because if only one item in his exposé turns out to be lacking or baseless, that is what the public will remember,” Lacson told dzRH.

He said they gave the advice after Pacquiao told them that he plans to make some exposés on corruption in government at a press conference today, before he leaves for the US to prepare for his fight against American boxing champ Errol Spence.

Pacquiao earlier accepted the challenge of President Duterte to cite specific instances of corruption in his government.

“He told us, ‘You know boss, I have a lot planned.’ He seemed determined. He said, ‘I have complete (documents). I would not have said those things if I don’t have anything,’” Lacson quoted Pacquiao as telling them.

“He said the evidence that he has on hand ‘reaches the top,’” he said.

“I told him that, ‘look carefully at what you’re holding, they might be inserted with fake evidence or documents, and the repercussions on you will be severe,’” Lacson said.

He said they also talked about politics and the “way forward” but the corruption in various government agencies dominated their discussion.

Lacson has yet to decide whether or not to run for president with Sotto as his runningmate. Lacson earlier said that Pacquiao, who appears to be eyeing the presidency, approached him months back and asked him if he would like to be his runningmate.

Lacson said he hopes the word war between Pacquiao and President Duterte would not become personal.

“It is sad to see two allies and friends have this word war in public. I hope they can stick to the issues and not make their word war become personal,” he said.

On the other hand, Lacson said Pacquiao should not be underestimated either, as he has shown signs he is doing his research. – Michael Punongbayan, Paolo Romero