The Commission on Elections en banc has denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and former senator Manny Pacquiao about the Comelec resolution in May 2022.
In a resolution issued Friday, the poll body’s special second division recognized the faction of former Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi as the “true and official” members of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).
“The instant Comelec en banc Resolution denied the Motion for Reconsideration dated 11 May 2022 and affirmed the assailed Resolution of the Comelec Special Second Division dated 6 May 2022,” the poll body said in a statement.
Comelec said the en banc “did not find novel issues to be tackled and found no cogent reason to disturb the decision of the Comelec Special Second Division.”
Comelec’s special second division voted 2-1 in favor of the Cusi wing.
The resolution showed Commissioners Socorro Inting and Rey Bulay as the majority votes, with Commissioner Marlon Casquejo as the dissenter.
The PDP-Laban leadership, chaired by former president Rodrigo Duterte, also said in a statement it was elated by the Comelec ruling.
Pimentel and Pacquiao said they would appeal the Comelec ruling with the Supreme Court.
Pimentel also told the poll body to refrain from using the phrase “vox populi, vox Dei” in their press statements because that was just the statement of the Comelec and not the voice of the people.
“Our Comelec people might slowly get some kind of messianic complex if they start believing that what they say is the voice of God,” he added.
PDP-Laban was established to stand against the administration of then President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
Pimentel is the son of former Senate President and party co-founder Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr., who founded the PDP-Laban in 1982 with Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. as an opposition force against the majority party led by President Marcos Sr.
The Cusi wing backed the candidacy of now-President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.