Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III has praised Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio for turning down the reported offer of some members of the Partido Demokratiko ng Pilipinas-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) for her to join her father's political party in time for the 2022 elections.
“Kudos to Mayor Sarah Duterte for rejecting the idea of hijacking the PDP-Laban offered to her by rogue elements in the party," Pimentel, the party's former president, said on Twitter Friday night, June 4.
"This shows us that she is a principled individual who may be interested in strengthening the party system here in our country," he added.
Last Monday, May 31, a faction of the PDP-Laban, led by the party vice chair and Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, held a meeting despite the call of their current president, Sen. Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao, that it was against their rules.
During the meeting, they approved a resolution that urges President Duterte, their chaiman, to run for vice president in next year's elections. They will let the Chief Executive pick his running mate for the presidential race.
Duterte-Carpio, who was rumored as planning to run for president, was supposedly among her father's choices, according to Presidential spokesman Harry Roque.
The Davao City mayor, however, was quoted in a report saying that she will stick with her own political party, the Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) and that she has no plans to join any national political party.
Pimentel, meanwhile, maintained that the PDP-Laban will field its own presidential candidate.
"The PDP-Laban will field homegrown candidates as we are not lacking in talent. Hence we do not need to import personalities. We have our party ideology to guide us," he said.