Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles believes that the two warring factions of ruling party Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban)--one led by Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Alfonso Cusi and the other by Senator Manny Pacquiao--can still "be together".
Nograles, in a Radyo Pilipinas interview on Tuesday, Aug. 24, said that they've been consistent with their stand that they're "open for dialogue" with Pacquiao's faction. Nograles is aligned with the Cusi group.
"Alam niyo simula pa noon ay nandoon pa naman 'yung aming ano eh, kumbaga we are always open to dialogue. 'Di naman namin sila tinatanggal, sila ay nananatiling miyembro pa rin ng partidong PDP-Laban (From the start, we've always been open to dialogue. We didn't remove them, they remain members of the PDP-Laban party)," he said.
"So patuloy pa rin 'yung aming pagpapadala ng aming...na kumbaga open pa rin kami for dialogue sa kanila, 'yung pagpapadala namin ng mensahe sa kanila na, 'Eh mag-usap tayo eh pareho naman tayo na magkapartido.' 'Yun ang stand namin dyan. Pwede naman tayo magsama-sama (We continue to be open for dialogue...we continue to sent them our message that, 'Hey let's talk, we're all from the same party. That is our stand. We can be together)," added the Cabinet Secretary.
The upcoming May 2022 national elections have driven a deep wedge between boxer-senator Pacquiao and senior PDP-Laban members Cusi and President Duterte. Cusi is party president, while Duterte is the party chairman.
Last July, Cusi was installed by his faction as PDP-Laban president, replacing Pacquiao, while the latter was training for his fight in the United States (US) against Cuban welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas.
But with the boxing match over and done with, Pacquiao is expected to place his full focus on next year's polls, where he is rumored to vie for the presidency--his supposed longtime dream.
Ealier, the Cusi faction endorsed President Duterte as its vice presidential candidate and Senator Bong Go as its presidential candidate or standard-bearer for next year. So far, only Duterte has committed to accept his nomination.
Duterte's formal acceptance as well as the announcement of who the standard-bearer will be will take place during PDP-Laban's national convention on Sept. 8, Nograles said. It remains to be seen if Pacquiao and his supporters will attend the mixed live and virtual event.
"Wala naman pong nagbago, hindi naman namin sila inaano (Nothing has changed, we didn't do anything to them)," Nograles said of the Pacquiao faction.