Senator Emmanuel Pacquiao has directed PDP-Laban members to "ignore" Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi's call for a national assembly by the end of the month, the party confirmed Thursday.
But Cusi, PDP-Laban vice chairman, told Manila Standard in a text message the assembly on Monday would push through.
In a memorandum dated May 25, Pacquiao, who is party president, "strongly advised" his party-mates not to heed "Cusi's letter calling for a national assembly on May 31, 2021."
"Yes, this is a legitimate memorandum from the national headquarters," PDP-Laban Executive Director Ron Munsayac said when asked about the document that had been circulating on social media.
"Any call for a national council and/or assembly must be approved by both the chairman and the president only," read a highlighted part of Pacquiao's memorandum.
The ruling party's chairman is President Rodrigo Duterte, who said he was leaving it to God whether he would run or not for vice president in the 2022 elections, Malacañang said Thursday.
"I think I will quote the President, he leaves it to God," presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in an online press briefing.
Roque issued the statement following a clamor for Duterte to seek the vice presidency next year.
Duterte has been repeatedly urged to pair either with his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, or his former long-time aide, Senator Christopher Lawrence Go, in next year’s elections.
Roque said he already heard the President say at one point that he had become president, so why would he want to become vice president, adding “But I don't know if there's been any change.”
Munsayac did not give details on why Cusi was calling for an assembly about five months before the filing of certificates of candidacy for the 2022 national elections.
In March, Pacquiao warned Cusi not to sow division within the ruling party after the energy chief and his allies allegedly pushed Duterte to run for vice president in the upcoming elections.
“I am not the kind of person you can toy with. This is simply a warning: I am not fighting with you. I want us to become friends,” Pacquiao said in a press conference two months ago.
“Do not go back on your word that we should set aside politics and help our people first. Do not divide the minds of our partymates just to further your own interest. If you are going around to help our people, I will applaud you.”
“But if you go around talking about politics – don’t do that. Do not poison the minds of our party-mates to cause a division,” said the senator, whom political observers said would likely seek the presidency in next year’s polls.
Cusi, for his part, said partymates who attended a consultative meeting in Manila on March 8 agreed to execute and sign a resolution supporting Duterte as the PDP-Laban’s vice presidential bet next year.
“The common sentiment is continuity of service. It was instinctive on the part of the members because of their recognition that the pandemic and the natural disasters that converged in 2020 unreasonably interrupted the economic programs and infrastructure projects of the administration,” Cusi said in a statement.
“They were mindful of the past lessons wherein transition of power from one president to the next resulted in change of policies and directions, thus resulting in unfinished and unfulfilled projects, causing disservice to the Filipino people,” he added.
