Koko Pimentel: Some individuals asked me to drop support for Pacquiao

PDP-Laban executive vice chairman and Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Wednesday bared there are groups who have asked him to drop support for party president and Senator Manny Pacquiao’s Eleksyon 2022 plans.

“Di ko masabing [Energy Secretary Alfonso] Cusi and his camp ‘yon, pero may mga text tayong natatanggap na gano’n which I immediately dismissed,” Pimentel said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum when asked to confirm reports that Cusi’s group asked him to withdraw his support for Pacquiao.

(I cannot say that it was Sec. Cusi and his camp but I have received text messages asking me to withdraw my support [for] Pacquiao which I immediately dismissed.)

GMA News Online asked Pimentel to clarify if he was asked to drop his support for Pacquiao’s possible presidential candidacy in the 2022 national and local elections. However, the senator has not responded yet as of posting time.

Pimentel has been vocal about his support for Pacquiao’s plans for the upcoming polls.

He previously said the party was “grooming” Pacquiao to run for a national post in 2022 and this caused the rift between his group and the Cusi-led faction within the party.

Pimentel did not specify the position that Pacquiao will pursue in the 2022 elections, but he noted that his colleague can run for president, vice president, and even another term in the Senate.

Earlier, Pimentel told his party mates who support possible 2022 presidential bets outside the ruling party to leave the organization as it shows disloyalty.

Disloyalty and “showing of allegiance to a political party apart from PDP Laban” were the reasons behind the expulsion of Cusi and two other PDP-Laban officials from the party last week.

As early as June, Pimentel hinted at Cusi’s “secret agenda,” claiming the latter intended to gift the ruling party’s presidential nomination to an outsider.

Cusi has since denied Pimentel’s claims. 

PDP-Laban deputy secretary general Melvin Matibag denied that they are pushing for a presidential bet that will come from outside the party.

He said that it was the group of Pimentel who wanted to bind PDP-Laban into supporting Pacquiao as standard bearer in the May 2022 polls.

“Kung talagang gagamitin ang common sense natin, ang may problema talaga sila dahil nakatali na lang sila sa isang kandidato na si Sen. Manny Pacquiao,” Matibag said in a virtual press conference.

(If we will use common sense, the problem lies in their group because they want to bind the party into supporting one candidate who is Sen. Manny Pacquiao.)

“Ngayon sila po ang may problema dahil kinakahon na nila na si Senator Pacquiao lang ang pwedeng kandidato ng PDP-Laban. Kaya po nagkaroon ng problema,” he said.

(They wanted to make sure that PDP-Laban members will support only Senator Pacquiao. That is where the problem started.)

Matibag further accused Pimentel’s group of opposing calls for President Rodrigo Duterte to run for vice president.

"Nakita ninyo na noon tinututulan nila na si Pangulo tumakbo na vice president e," he said.

(Previously, they opposed the President Duterte's possible run for vice president.)

“Doon naman po nagsimula 'yung problema e. Nu’ng nakita nila na si President Duterte  tinutulak na maging bise-presidente, inisip nila na baka hindi s’ya kunin na running mate ni Presidente kaya nagkaganon po nagkagulo-gulo,” he added.

(That is where it all started. When they saw that President Duterte is being pushed to run for vice president, they already thought that he might not pick Pacquiao as his running mate.)

Penalize Pacquiao

Matibag said Pacquiao’s criticisms against party chairman President Duterte are enough grounds to penalize the lawmaker.

“Kung susundin 'yung batas namin, may enough reason, enough grounds to penalize si Senator Pacquiao. Di naman po sinabing tatanggalin,” he said

He explained that the penalties against party members range from censure, reprimand, suspension to expulsion.

Asked what will be the grounds for penalties eyed against Pacquiao, Matibag said the lawmaker’s criticisms can be “interpreted as  disloyalty to the party.”

“That is a direct attack to your party. [It is] not necessarily a personal comment against the President of the Republic but a comment directed to attack, humiliate partymates of PDP-Laban,” he said.

But Pimentel said there are no sanctions that can be imposed against Pacquiao.

“Ganito 'yung theory nila, nag-criticize daw si Senator Pacquiao. A party member nire-recognize namin ‘yung right to free speech ng aming party member. Democracy-based kami,” Pimentel, who wrote the PDP-Laban bylaws, said.

(Their theory is Senator Pacquiao has criticized the President. We recognize a party member's right to free speech. We are democracy-based.)

Pimentel said Cusi’s group just made an issue out of nothing,

“Kung tignan mo, pinalaki 'yung issue. Wala namang issue, ang sabi lang ni Manny Pacquiao, pinalabok nila, meron pang korapsyon. Si President yata mismo pwede mong kunan ng sound byte sinabi niya mismo meron pa ring corruption,” he said.

(They just made an issue out of nothing. What Manny Pacquiao said was there is still corruption in the government. The President himself said that there is still corruption in the government.)

“The same message stated by another person is all of a sudden a big deal, but not when stated by another person. Why? Why is it a big deal. Because they need this issue within the party kasi meron silang gustong gawin sa partido [because they have a secret agenda],” Pimentel claimed.— RSJ/AOL, GMA News