Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Sunday, August 15 dismissed the accusations hurled by the camp of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi against Sen. Manny Pacquiao saying they are “over-acting and corny.”
Pimentel is reacting to the threat of Cusi’s camp for Pacquiao to explain why he should not be expelled from the party in 10 to 15 days. Melvin Matibag, who was elected as PDP Secretary General during a PDP-Laban convention organized by Cusi, earlier disclosed Pacquiao’s alleged plan to turn his regional political party, People’s Champ Movement (PCM) to a national party.
“Medyo over-acting at corny na yan ginagawa ng Cusi group (Cusi group’s actions are I think over-acting and corny). First, they go to great extent to illegally and illegitimately grab power within PDP-Laban because they have a secret hidden agenda. And I think Sen. Manny Pacquiao is an obstacle to their secret hidden agenda,” Pimentel said in a statement.
The senator noted Cusi’s camp also made a big media event out of Pacquiao’s observation that there is still corruption in government. Yet the latest Commission on Audit (COA) report regarding the Department of Health’s (DOH) mismanagement of P67.3-billion worth of funds for COVID-19 response validated this, he said.
“The secret hidden agenda of the Cusi group probably requires them to get rid of Sen. Manny Pacquiao from the PDP-Laban, even if only on paper or for show to the public. They are doing everything to separate Sen Manny Pacquiao from PDP-Laban in the minds of the public,” he said.
He said Pacquiao being a member of PDP-Laban while maintaining a regional political party had never been an issue in the decades he run the PDP-Laban party.
According to the senator, these “new members” of PDP-Laban clearly do not know anything about the Party’s constitution, how the party’s history, basic principles and beliefs have been interpreted and applied over the decades.
“The reason is very easy to see: there is no conflict between a national political party and a regional political party, and even with a party list organization. Those are political operations under different levels,” he explained.
Pimentel, son of the late Sen. Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel, Jr. the founder of PDP, also said Duterte, the party chairman, himself maintains a local political party or movement in Davao City.
“This ‘development’ is their latest bluff which is really already corny. PRRD (Duterte) is himself a member of a local political party or movement in Davao City. Secretary Cusi also has his own local political party or movement in Oriental Mindoro and even has a party list organization too,” he said.
“Parang corny na kung seryosohin pa natin ang latest allegations ng power grabbers na ito ( I think it’s corny if we take the latest allegations of these power grabbers seriously),” said the lawmaker.