President Rodrigo Duterte remains the chairman of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) party despite being ousted by the faction headed by Senator Manny Pacquiao, Malacanang insisted Wednesday.
In a press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte believes that he remains chair of the ruling party, stressing that only the Supreme Court could decide to settle the issue of party legitimacy.
“He had nothing to say about it because in the eyes of the President, he continues to be the chairman,” Roque said.
President Duterte was aware that the Supreme Court had to intervene to settle the matter.
“It is necessary for the Supreme Court to decide on this issue, and the President knows that,” he said.
The Pacquiao-led PDP-Laban faction recently ousted Duterte as party chairman, replacing him with senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, while Pacquiao was elected as the party president.
Pacquiao’s camp has repeatedly rejected the legitimacy of the election of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi as PDP-Laban president along with his allies in the administration, led by the President.
Pimentel said their camp is certain that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will recognize and rule in favor of their group.
Melvin Matibag, secretary-general of the PDP-Laban Cusi faction, dismissed the rival group’s election of new officers as a “comedy.”
“It’s a comedy. Sen. Koko Pimentel has no position in the PDP Laban. He is irrelevant and he does not represent the party. His group are pretenders and are attention seekers,” Matibag said.
Pimentel’s father, the late Senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr., founded PDP-Laban in 1982. Duterte joined the party in 2016 as a substitute candidate en route to being the first elected President from Mindanao.