Pacquiao to skip 'unauthorized' July 17 PDP-Laban event led by Cusi

PDP-Laban acting president and Senator Manny Pacquiao will skip the national assembly that will be led by party vice chairman Alfonso Cusi on July 17.

“PDP Laban President Sen. Manny Pacquiao will not attend the said activity led by Sec. Cusi & his group,” PDP-Laban executive director Ron Munsayac said in a message to reporters Thursday.

He said the PDP-Laban national leadership along with grassroots members and the “old guards” of the party consider this as an unauthorized assembly.

“Any resolution or decision that will be borne out of this unauthorized activity will be ignored,” Munsayac added.

In an ANC interview Thursday morning, PDP-Laban executive vice chairman and Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III likewise said he will not attend the assembly.

As the one who crafted the party’s constitution, Pimentel said he considers the Cusi-led assemblies as “unauthorized and unlawful.”

Munsayac maintained that Pacquiao has the “overwhelming” support of PDP-Laban’s grassroots and old-time members.

“Just to be clear, those who attended the activity held by Sec. Cusi  last May 31 were a mere 100 members out of the 100,000 in our roster,” Munsayac said.

“Mostly politicians and appointed officials in the executive department. But to be fair to the politicians, they attended because they believed it had the blessings of Malacañang Palace,” he added.

On May 31, the PDP-Laban council suggested holding another meeting on July 16. They also suggested having a national assembly on July 17 for electing their party officers.

PDP-Laban secretary-general Melvin Matibag earlier said the July 17 assembly might discuss possibilities to elect party officials.

This will include the possibility of replacing Pacquiao as acting president of the party.

Before the national assembly, Pacquiao issued a memorandum on May 25, advising his party mates to ignore the invitation of Cusi to attend the meeting.

The senator argued that the assembly violated the party's constitution.

Cusi still pushed through with the national assembly despite calls from a "minority" of party mates to ignore the event.

Malacañang earlier said that the Cusi-led PDP-Laban event last May 31 has the blessing of President Rodrigo Duterte, the party chairman.

Early this June, Pacquiao hit Cusi, who also sits as the Energy secretary, for allegedly prioritizing politics over addressing the power outages in Luzon.—AOL, GMA News