Koko asks Robin in jest: Why do you have two chairmen in PDP-Laban?

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino 'Koko' Pimentel III and Senator Robin Padilla, who belong to separate factions of the PDP-Laban, shared a light moment on the Senate floor Monday over the continued leadership dispute in the former ruling party.

As he sponsored the bill seeking to declare February 1 as National Hijab Day, Padilla referred to the former Senate president as the party's second chairman as Pimentel prepared to interpellate on the floor.

"Magandang hapon sa aming pangalawang chairman ng PDP, Senator Pimentel," Padilla said.

Pimentel, who was declared the chairman of a faction of the PDP-Laban, replied: "With the permission of the sponsor, siguro tatanungin ko siya bakit may pangalawang chairman siyang nire-recognize sa loob ng isang partido. Pero at any rate, hindi na po kasi outside of the topic na eh."

His response drew laughter from the people at the Senate plenary hall.

Padilla responded: "Because I love you, boss."

In September, Pimentel called out Padilla after the latter tagged former President Rodrigo Duterte as the chairman of the PDP-Laban.

He explained that the leadership feud in PDP-Laban is still pending and they might lose a future case in the Supreme Court if this will not be corrected at the outset.

Padilla apologized for his remarks, saying he thought that the case had already been resolved.

Padilla was recently named as the executive vice president of a faction led by former Energy secretary Alfonso Cusi.

In 2021, the Cusi-led wing asked the poll body to declare Pimentel and former senator Manny Pacquiao as illegal representatives of the party.

Three days before the May 9 elections, a division of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) recognized the Cusi faction as the legitimate PDP-Laban wing, calling then President Duterte's chairmanship as "undisputed and well-settled fact."

Pimentel, a party stalwart, said the decision is "not immediately executory."

The petition on PDP-Laban leadership is currently pending at the Comelec en banc.—AOL, GMA Integrated News