Pacquiao ‘burned bridges,’ says Cusi

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said Tuesday Senator Manny Pacquiao has effectively cut ties with the PDP-Laban wing which recently offered to include the lawmaker in its senatorial slate for the 2022 elections.

“We have been inviting him (Pacquiao), [have] been wanting to meet with him. But unfortunately, he closed the door to us,” Cusi, PDP-Laban president, said in an online press briefing when asked if the party was no longer interested in including Pacquiao in its senatorial ticket.

“What happened was he not just closed the door, but also burned bridges.”

The Cusi faction, which will announce its senatorial bets on Wednesday, previously said it still considered Pacquiao a member of the party pending the resolution of the complaint against him.

PDP-Laban secretary general Melvin Matibag earlier bared that Pacquiao was allegedly converting the People's Champ Movement, his regional political party, into a national political party, which is a major ground for expulsion.

Pacquiao is one of the key members of another faction of PDP-Laban, which also includes Senator Aquilino Pimentel III.

Pacquiao’s faction recently elected Pimentel as party chairman, replacing President Rodrigo Duterte.

In July, Cusi's group ousted Pacquiao as PDP-Laban president. He was then replaced by Cusi. — RSJ, GMA News