Pacquiao: Some PDP-Laban members don't back Marcos' presidential bid

DUMAGUETE CITY — Senator Manny Pacquiao on Saturday claimed that some PDP-Laban members do not support his fellow presidential candidate, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., who was earlier endorsed by a faction of the party led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi.

"May ilan na kinakausap namin at hindi lahat dahil naging busy tayo sa pangangampanya. Naniniwala naman sila sa atin," Pacquiao said at a media briefing here when asked for an update on his discussion with party members on shunning the endorsement of Marcos.

(We have talked to some PDP-Laban members, although not all, because I am busy with the campaign. They believe in us.)

GMA News Online has reached out to Cusi to get his comment, but he has yet to reply as of posting time.

The Cusi group, which is chaired by President Rodrigo Duterte, said it backed Marcos' candidacy because his platform, which is centered on national unity, is most aligned with the development program of the outgoing administration.

Last week, Pacquiao supporter Senator Aquilino Pimentel III said the Cusi wing's endorsement only showed they were "total strangers" to the party, which was established in the 1980s to fight the regime of Ferdinand Marcos Sr., Bongbong Marcos' late father.

Pacquiao seemed to agree with that sentiment.

"Bakit pa tayo susuporta roon sa isang kandidato, na created ang partido na ito laban sa kanilang administrasyon. Parang isang sampal sa isang partido na nabuo tapos susuporta naman," he said.

(Why would we support that candidate when the party was created against their administration? It's like a slap in the face for a party that was created to oppose their administration only to support it afterwards.)

Pacquiao insisted that their faction had more members, including those from the "grassroots," than the Cusi group.

"Kami ang mas maraming members, grassroots ang members namin...Yung official papers ng PDP nasa akin lahat, pati 'yung mga luma, nandito sa atin," he said.

(We have more members. Our members are from the grassroots. I have all the official papers of the PDP, including the old ones. They are here with us.)

The two factions have been attempting to seize control of the party ahead of the polls by electing their own members to key positions. 

The Commission on Elections is set to decide on which faction, Pacquiao's or Cusi's, would be recognized as the legitimate PDP-Laban party. — VBL, GMA News