Pimentel: Eased PDP-Laban member requirements after Duterte presidential win a mistake

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III admitted that they made a mistake when they eased PDP-Laban membership requirements after then-Mayor Rodrigo Duterte won the presidency in 2016.

This caused division among the party members said Pimentel, who currently sits as the chairman of a PDP-Laban faction.

"Nagkaroon ng division sa partido kasi nga lumaki ang partido e nung nanalo po si President Duterte. Eh ugaling Filipino politician. Kung sino ang nanalo e nag-linya ang mga politiko to apply," Pimentel said on The Mangahas Interviews.

"Ang mali naman namin, na-relax namin ang aming membership requirements at tinanggap namin sila. So lumaki... Pag masyado nang malaki, wala na kayong common way of thinking. Nagsama-sama na lang kayo d'yan because of power e," he added.

Pimentel said those who joined the party because of Duterte did not care about what the party stood for, such as the push for federalism and their five basic principles.

"Ang ayoko nga mangyari maging parang country club na lang itong PDP Laban. Mga pa-golf golf na lang na mga ano d'yan, ganon ang mga members natin. Ayaw na natin ng ganoon. Kaya nagkaroon po kami ng division at umabot na nga sa kasuhan sa [Commission on Elections]," he said.

In September 2021, former Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi's faction filed a petition before the poll body to declare former Senator Manny Pacquiao and Pimentel as illegal representatives of the party.

In May, a Comelec division resolved to recognize Cusi's faction, which was chaired by Duterte, as the legitimate wing of PDP-Laban.

Their appeal to overturn the Comelec division's decision is still pending at the Comelec en banc, Pimentel said.

In the 2022 national and local polls, the then-ruling party PDP Laban did not field any presidential nor any vice-presidential candidate.

Duterte's longtime aide Senator Christopher “Bong” Go initially filed his candidacy for vice president under PDP-Laban, while Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, a staunch Duterte ally, originally filed his candidacy for president under the ruling party.

Go withdrew his bid after then-Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte filed her candidacy for vice president. Dela Rosa, meanwhile, withdrew his candidacy.

Go filed a COC for president as a substitute under Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan (PDDS), a party allied with the PDP-Laban. He also withdrew his presidential bid later on.

On the other hand, Pimentel's wing supported the presidential bid of Senator Manny Pacquiao.

Pimentel refused to comment on the PDP-Laban's failure to field candidates in the last presidential election, though he said that this problem would arise if the party did not base decisions on their principles and ideologies.

"'Yan ang problema kasi. Dapat kasi, ang political party, you decide on the basis of the party ideology or principle and then program," he said.

Pimentel said some of their members only joined the former ruling party because they "just want to win the elections."

"Noong 1980s... Nakita ko ang kultura ng PDP-Laban. Hindi naman ito just running to win an election. But it is running to educate the people, tell the voters ano ang isyu. Pero 'yung solusyon mo naman sa isyu dapat follows your way of thinking," he said.

"Ganon sana ang gusto namin i-preserve na kultura sa PDP Laban." — DVM, GMA News