The local leaders of the Partido Demokratiko ng Pilipinas (PDP)-Lakas ng Bayan (Laban) remain united in the local front despite having 2 “wings” in the national level.
This was the statement of Gov. Arthur Yap during the virtual press conference on Sept. 10, 2021.
He said that the activities of the national PDP-Laban leadership are not going to cause significant impact to party members here in the province.
He added that the current political alignments will stay.
He insisted that what is more important is to work harder to respond better against the challenges of the Coronavirus disease (Covid) pandemic.
Yap said that even if he is aligned with the Duterte-Cusi faction of the PDP-Laban, at the local level, the factions decided to field common candidates.
“Unique ang sitwasyon nato sa lalawigansa Bohol. Dakong pasalamat nako nga si Dr. Doloreich Dumaluan ug ang inyohang gobernador maayo ang relasyon. Ug nagdisisyon kaming duha nga kabahin sa PDP-Laban sa local level mag-uban ang candidates nga tanang wings sa PDP [Laban], so when it comes to local candidates for PDP-Laban in the local level, Dr. Dumaluan and myself have decided na unified ang among mga candidates all over the province,” the governor said.
In a separate telephone interview, Dumaluan echoed what the governor said in terms of the relations of the factions within the party in the local level.
The former Panglao mayor said he is optimistic that the Commission onElections (COMELEC) will resolve the row within the party, which resulted in the appearance of two wings, one led by President Duterte and Energy Sec. Alfonso Cusi and the Pacquiao-Pimentel wing, led by Sen. Manny Pacquiao and Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III.
Yap said that he is also waiting for the COMELEC’s decision regarding the leadership row.
The governor said that as far as he knows, the Pacquiao-Pimentel wing filed a case before the COMELEC and the Duterte-Cusi wing already responded.
Despite this, Yap said the members of the party, in the local level, are united.
ON THE NATIONAL CONVENTION
Yap, who is under the Duterte-Cusi wing, attended the national convention called by the said party faction on Sept. 8, 2021.
He said that the national convention is part of the process, as the COMELEC is ordering the various political parties to conduct their respective conventions as the filing of the Certificates of Candidacy (CoC) draws near.
The conventions are also times to determine who will get the Certificate of Nomination and Acceptance (CONA), which will serve as the basis of a particular candidate’s nomination to run for a certain position in next year’s polls, according to Yap.
The period for the filing of the CoCs is set from Oct. 1 to 8, 2021, according to the COMELEC.
As of Friday, Yap said the PDP-Laban’s nomination given to Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go and President Rodrigo Duterte as presidential and vicepresidential candidates, respectively, will stay for now.
This comes as Davao City mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio has indicated that she will not be seeking any national post in the coming elections.
However, anything can happen as substitutions can still be accepted by the Comelec until Nov. 15, 2021.
“Hangtud Nov. 15, we are not very sure kun unsa pa’y mahitabo. If along the way Mayor Sara will decide to run, then there is a possibility, nga mausab pa ang desisyon sa PDP-Laban,”Yap told The Bohol Tribune during the press conference.
The governor said that he is banking on the promise of President Duterte that if Mayor Sara will not run for president, he will continue as a vice presidential candidate.
ON THE UNIFICATION BETWEEN GUV AND OPPOSITION FOR NEXT YEAR’S ELECTION
The governor said he is waiting for any proposal from the opposition regarding the possible unification move as the period of filing of the CoCs draws near.
The governor bared this during the virtual press conference on Friday.
The governor said that he has yet to receive proposals or feelers from the political opposition regarding unification of political forces.
He refused to speculate on the reunification modality until such time he gets a proposal.
In the same virtual press conference, the governor said he is open for unification, but wants to know the proposal first before making any statements about it.
The governor is the acknowledged leader of the Padayon Bol-anon, which is a broad coalition of national political parties.
The coalition is also bannered by Cong. Edgar Chatto of the Liberal Party and Vice Gov. Rene Relampagos of the National Unity Party.