Inday Sara: Hugpong ng Pagbabago to build alliances with local parties

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte has said that her Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) is ready to create alliances with local political parties to "help each other."

In a statement dated July 27, she also said that HNP was not created to "go on a national level."

"We just wanted to create a strong Region XI. We did not foresee this growing interest of other politicians from other regions," the president's daughter said.

"It will be a difficult decision to go national and I am not ready to decide on it right now. Even the other officers are not keen on deciding on this. But we are set to create alliances with other groups to help each other," she added.

She made the statement amid the squabble in the House of Representatives and the emerging factions in the ruling PDP-Laban Party, where President Duterte is chairman. 

Deputy Speaker Fredenil Castro last Saturday said PDP-Laban "might be erased from the [Philippine] political landscape" due to infighting, and its members might jump to Sara's HNP, upgrading it to a national party.

Castro said that one possible outcome of the "unrest" in the ruling party is that the members of the PDP-Laban may return to their original parties or shift allegiance to the regional party of Sara Duterte-Carpio.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has accredited HNP as a regional political party.

Sara formed the HNP with four governors of Region 11 with the blessing of President Rodrigo Duterte.

HNP will join her father's party, Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), and the Liberal Party in seeking local positions and seats in Congress. —Anna Felicia Bajo/LBG, GMA News