Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 30) — Senator Manny Pacquiao may be days away from being unseated as acting president of PDP-Laban, a veteran colleague said amid the boxer-turned-lawmaker’s deepening rift with President Rodrigo Duterte.
“I would not be surprised if Senator Pacquiao wakes up one morning in July and he is no longer the president or the acting president of PDP-Laban,” Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay media forum on Wednesday.
He said this can be discerned from the actions made by Duterte as chairman of the ruling party. Duterte directed Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, the party vice chairman, to convene and preside over a national council meeting on May 31, to the dismay of Pacquiao, who said he should have been consulted based on the party’s rules.
PDP-Laban’s national council will meet again on July 16 to set the agenda for the assembly the next day. PDP-Laban Secretary General Melvin Matibag earlier told CNN Philippines the members may decide to elect a new set of officers and discuss their possible slate for the 2022 national polls.
When asked if Pacquiao may be replaced, Matibag said, “of course, in an election there’s always the possibility that you will lose an election, so it’s possible.”
Drilon, who serves as vice chairman of the opposition Liberal Party, did not give a categorical answer on whether LP will adopt Pacquiao if he leaves PDP-Laban.
“Our concentration in the party today is to prepare if eventually, in the eventuality that Leni Robredo runs for president. ‘Pag di siya tumakbo (If she doesn’t run)…we are open to alliances, we are open to discussions,” he said.
“Anything can happen except we have certain principles and platforms,” he added.
Drilon said the disunity within PDP-Laban will have “serious implications” in the 2022 elections and benefit the opposition.
“But it takes a lot of work for us to be able to take advantage of it,” he said, reiterating the need to have only one opposition candidate against Duterte’s anointed bet.
‘Pointless debate’
During his regular public address on Monday, Duterte berated Pacquiao for saying that corruption in government has worsened. He asked Pacquiao to list the government agencies and officials involved in corruption, or else he would campaign against the senator and tell the public he’s a liar.
Pacquiao accepted the challenge and initially named the Department of Health as one of the corrupt agencies. The DOH dismissed his allegations.
Senator Koko Pimentel, former national president and incumbent executive vice chairman of PDP-Laban, called for an end to the bickering.
“Even the President has said that there is corruption in government,” he said in a statement shared to reporters. “‘Wag na lang mag (Let’s not just) waste time in debating whether this is times two or times three of a certain level of corruption because that would be a pointless and endless debate.”
Meanwhile, Senator Ping Lacson, one of the possible presidential candidates in the 2022 elections, said he hopes Duterte and Pacquiao would mend ties.
Earlier in June, Duterte also hit back at Pacquiao after the senator said he found the President’s statements on the South China Sea dispute lacking. Duterte said Pacquiao has a “very shallow knowledge” and should study first. In response, Pacquiao said he disagrees with Duterte’s assessment of his understanding of foreign policy and stressed that he was just “voicing out what needs to be said” to protect the country’s sovereign rights.
