Pacquiao is undercard on PDP-Laban faction's Go-Duterte ticket
MANILA, Philippines — The faction of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino – Lakas ng Bayan led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi is still giving Sen. Manny Pacquiao a fighting chance in the political ring, with them considering the boxer-lawmaker as one of their senatorial candidates for the 2022 elections.
Pacquiao was president of the party until the Cusi-led faction declared positions vacant and elected the energy secretary its new president. President Rodrigo Duterte remains party chairman.
“We consider Senator Pacquiao as one of our top senatorial candidates for PDP-Laban,” PDP-Laban secretary general Melvin Matibag told a news conference on Friday.
This is despite the ongoing spat between the Cusi and Pacquiao factions of the PDP-Laban, both of which claim to be the legitimate administration party.
Pacquiao, who is currently in the United States training for his August 21 bout with boxer Errol Spence, is strongly rumored to be eyeing the presidency, but the Cusi-led PDP-Laban has rendered him virtually powerless in his own party.
Faction endorses Go-Duterte tandem
The 15-member National Executive Council of the Cusi-led PDP-Laban, composed of the party’s top leaders, has also unanimously approved a resolution endorsing Senator Christopher “Bong” Go for president and Duterte for vice president, narrowing the chances of Pacquiao entering the presidential race through PDP-Laban.
But Matibag signalled that all hope is not lost for Pacquiao, saying that his supporters may still nominate him as the PDP-Laban’s standard-bearer at the party’s national assembly on September 8 at San Jose Del Monte Convention Center in Bulacan.
The Pacquiao faction, however, is likely to snub this assembly as they are expected to mount a legal challenge to the Cusi faction before the Commission on Elections.
“If they will challenge it, they have every right to challenge it, but at the end of the day, we will go back to the question of who followed the party constitution, what process was followed. We’re confident we followed the process,” Matibag said partly in Filipino.
Matibag said that the invitation for the Pacquiao faction to attend the assembly remains open and that they are trying to reach out to him and Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel, the son of the founder of the party, who has sided with the boxer-lawmaker.
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