PDP-Laban is primarily a leftist progressive political party that was born from the Marcos era of politics. The Lakas ng Bayan (Laban) party was founded by former senator Ninoy Aquino while he was imprisoned, as a party that would run in the 1978 Interim Batasang Pambansa regional parliamentary elections against the ruling party of Marcos. Despite the lack of political freedom during the time of the Marcos regime, Laban was able to find supporters for their opposition party, but they still ended up losing the elections and not winning any of the national posts. Despite this, they continued to oppose the dictator through rallies and noise barrages. Many of the politician members of the party went into exile to avoid becoming political prisoners, while some of those who stayed were arrested. Partido Demokratikong Pilipino (PDP) was another anti-Marcos group founded by human rights advocate Nene Pimentel and headed by late former senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr., father of current PDP-Laban member and senator, Koko Pimentel. After Ninoy Aquino’s assassination in 1986, Laban and PDP merged to create the PDP-Laban Party.
Tensions growing among 2 factions in the party
With the coming 2022 elections, tensions among the faction of Energy Secretary and Party Vice-Chairman Alfonso Cusi and the former party president, Senator Manny Pacquiao, are growing. This is because Cusi’s faction supports the possible Duterte-Duterte tandem for the national elections despite Sara Duterte-Carpio being from an opposing party, Hugpong ng Pagbabago.
Currently, the majority of the party’s over 10,000 grassroot members and the son of former party leader Koko Pimentel side with Pacquiao on the party’s leadership issue. Pimentel has told Cusi that if he wanted to support an outsider for the national polls, then he should have been transparent about it and formed his own political party instead of dividing the already established PDP-Laban.
Many of the politicians of the ruling party, however, are in support of Cusi as they acknowledge his leadership in the position alongside the two other ousted officials, Melvin Matibag and Astra Naik. Apart from this, President Duterte has also voiced out support for Cusi and even presided over the national assembly in Clark last July 17, despite members of the party saying that Cusi’s power to call for an assembly was illegitimate.
The National Assembly
In the National Assembly held on July 17, many resolutions were made that had sweeping changes to the party’s leadership. First, an election of national officers was held, and with this, Pacquiao was ousted from his position as party president and replaced by Cusi. Lastly, a council of elders was formed, and in an attempt to possibly unite the party or even divide Pacquiao’s National Executive Committee (NEC), Pimentel was offered a spot on the council of elders to represent his late father.
Responses to the rift
Tension continues to grow between both parties. Neither party has recognized any of the oustings of their allies that have happened in the past few days, and Pimentel has promised to never yield the party to people who allegedly want to support outsiders as its standard bearer in the national elections. Pacquiao went on to claim that various government agencies have engaged in corruption, but has yet to produce evidence for his claims as he prepares for his championship bout against Errol Spence Jr.
Opposition politician Frank Drilon admits that this rift can be a good thing for them as the 2022 election looms. He says that if his own party manages to unite and have only one candidate for both presidential and vice presidential positions, they have a significant chance against the ruling party whose resources may become divided.
Lastly, election lawyer Romulo Macalintal says, “If the leadership issue is not internally resolved by the PDP-Laban before August 15, the party and its officers and members will be in for a big and serious political crisis.”
August 15 is the deadline of the submission of the Sworn Information and Update Statement, and if the party fails to set aside their differences, the COMELEC will have the final say, similar to the ruling party’s problem in the 2019 senatorial elections, on who is legally correct in the issue.
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