"If the controversy is not resolved by August 15, we might find both the (Manny) Pacquiao Wing and the (Alfonso) Cusi Wing filing their respective versions of Sworn Information and Update Statement (SIUS) and the list of the party’s authorized signatories," Macalintal said in a statement on Wednesday, July 14.
"And this is where the Comelec, as held by the Supreme Court, will exercise its exclusive jurisdiction over the issue of leadership in a political party incidental to its power to register political parties," he added.
He added that September 1 is the start of the political conventions of RPPs to select and nominate their official candidates in the May 2022 election, and September 30 is the deadline for RPPs to submit their authorized signatories with their specimen signatures who will sign all documents they will submit to Comelec.
"There could be conflicting claims as to who has the authority to sign the documents to be submitted to the Comelec and who has the authority to call for a national convention to nominate their official candidates," he added.
Macalintal recalled what happened before the 2019 polls, when the Comelec received two sets of SIUS and two sets of List of Authorized Signatories from Senator Aquilino Pimentel III and a certain Rogelio Garcia. Both claimed to be the legitimate party officers of PDP-Laban.
After due notice and hearing, the Comelec later declared the Pimentel group as the legitimate officials of PDP-Laban.