After his loss to Yordenis Ugas, Senator Manny Pacquiao is now bound to face another fight—the disloyalty complaint filed against him by a Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban (PDP-Laban) member that could warrant his expulsion from the party.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, PDP-Laban’s executive vice president, assured Pacquiao would be given due process and be allowed time to explain his side to the executive committee.
Nograles is referring to the senator’s alleged conversion of his regional party the People’s Champ Movement (PCM) into a national party, which the camp of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said is a violation of the PDP-Laban Constitution.
PDP-Laban Secretary General Melvin Matibag has earlier said Pacquiao’s camp has 10 to 15 days to explain why they should not be expelled from the party.
“Ganito yan, may due process kami sa partido. And because of that I believe there is a complaint regarding that allegation. So we will have to run him through the process of the party. That means he will be given a chance to explain,” Nograles said in an interview on ANC’s Headstart.
“We’ll allow him to answer the allegations...and there will be a hearing and there will be a decision about it. We have a grievance procedure when it comes to party members. No one is exempted,” he said.
Pacquiao and his camp, which includes Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, has refused to acknowledge the party’s faction led by Cusi, making him at odds with President Duterte.
The boxing champ and his allies in the PDP-Laban maintained that the national council meeting and convention organized by Cusi’s faction is illegal and a violation of the party’s constitution.
Pacquiao allegedly earned the ire of President Duterte, the PDP-Laban chairman, after he was selected party president without the latter’s knowledge.
Pacquiao is said to be gearing for a presidential bid in the upcoming May 2022 national elections, while the party has nominated Senator Christopher “Bong” Go as their presidential candidate and Duterte as their vice presidential candidate.
Nograles defended the process put forth by the PDP-Laban’s executive committee saying they believe this is a “healthier process.”
“I think it’s a healther process, that we give people chance to explain themselves. Mahirap naman nage- explain tayo on air through media channels eh may proseso naman ang Partido (It’s hard to explain it through on air, through media channels, when we already have a process within the party),” the Cabinet official reiterated.