The Commission on Elections will now have to step in to resolve the infighting in the ruling party PDP-Laban after both factions have submitted their respective set of officers to the poll body.
The group identified with Senator Manny Pacquiao, who is in the US to train for his upcoming boxing match on Aug. 22, submitted its own Sworn Information Updated Statement to Comelec last month, PDP-Laban executive director Ron Munsayac told CNN Philippines.
The SIUS contains the list of party officers. The Pacquiao camp earlier expelled Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi as party vice chairman.
The Cusi-led wing, on the other hand, with the backing of President Rodrigo Dut containing the names of 16 national officers elected during a national assembly presided over by Duterte.
According to Melvin Matibag, the secretary-general under the Cusi-led wing, the party is poised to field the tandem of Senator Christopher Go and Duterte for next year’s national elections.
“With just a month before the ruling party’s national convention, the adoption of the tandem of Sen. Christopher Lawrence Go and President Rodrigo Duterte as PDP-Laban’s bets for president and vice president in the 2022 polls seems inevitable,” Matibag said.
“So far, we have not heard of any other nominees as our candidate for president and vice president so I see nothing to hinder the adoption of the Go-Duterte tandem during our convention,” he added.
Matibag said the party’s standard-bearers will be finalized during the PDP-Laban convention on Sept. 8.
But for Munsayac, PDP-Laban executive director under the Pacquiao wing, the Go-Duterte tandem is just a “smokescreen” but did not elaborate.
For her part, Vice President Leni Robredo said she met with Pacquiao twice to find a “common ground” in the 2022 presidential elections.
“I’ve spoken to him. I think twice already,” she said. “For me, these (talks) are exploratory. We are just discussing our feelings about the elections, or what our stand is about this.”
“I have always been very open that I am the one seeking, initiating discussions with almost everyone… My decision-making involves a lot of factors. It is not just the numbers… I don’t think the country can last another six years with this kind of governance,” the Vice President added.
