MANILA, Philippines — The faction of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino—Lakas ng Bayan led by Sen. Manny Pacquiao denied claims that he is turning his local party into a national party, as purported by the ruling party’s wing led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi.
“Up to today, the PCM (People’s Champ Movement) is a local and regional political party. The expelled group is only peddling lies to further their malicious and baseless claims,” the Pacquiao wing said in a statement on Thursday night.
It added, “His continuous allegiance to the PDP-Laban is unquestionable having been the campaign manager and presently the national president of the party.”
The Cusi wing of PDP-Laban threatened to expel Pacquiao over reports that he was converting PCM into a national party, saying this was a “major ground for expulsion” from the ruling party.
But the Pacquiao wing said all the actions of the Cusi group are “null and void,” calling them “usurpers and expelled members of PDP-Laban who have no rights or authority whatsoever.”
SMNI News first posted notes on a meeting purportedly held on Dec. 20, 2020, which was allegedly attended by PCM’s top officials, including Pacquiao. During the supposed meeting, the officials were said to have agreed to amend the party’s constitution and by-laws for it to become a national political party.
At the same meeting, Pacquiao was replaced by Lorelie Pacquiao as president of the People’s Champ Movement.
The Pacquiao faction claimed that the leaked documents actually show that days after the boxer-lawmaker ascended to the helm of PDP-Laban, he relinquished his post as president of PCM.
In July, the Cusi faction knocked out Pacquiao as the party’s president in a national assembly that the opposing camp branded as “illegal.”
Claiming the support of more than 100 PDP-Laban chapters nationwide, the Pacquiao group said that all actions made at the Cusi-led assembly have no force and effect over the party.
The two groups, both claiming to be the legitimate PDP-Laban, have separately submitted lists of their party officers to the Comelec.
The poll body is expected to decide which of the two PDP-Laban factions is the legitimate ruling party based on who among them followed party rules.
Pacquiao is widely rumored to run for president in the 2022 elections, where he might go against Duterte’s daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, and his former longtime aide, Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go.
Go and President Duterte have been endorsed by top officials of the Cusi wing of PDP-Laban to become its presidential and vice presidential candidates in next year’s polls.