The Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) led by Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III is eyeing the nomination of Senator Manny Pacquiao as the party’s standard bearer for the May 2022 elections.
Pimentel confirmed on Wednesday, August 25, that their group already has a “preliminary list of presidential candidates” and it only contains Pacquiao’s name.
“Sa aming preliminary list—tunay na shortlist siya, isa lang. Si Sen. Manny Pacquiao lang ang nandoon,” Pimentel said in an interview over radio DZBB.
He said their faction will nominate Pacquiao during their national assembly tentatively set on September 18.
But unlike their rival faction, which is led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, Pimentel said they will first choose their presidential candidate and let the latter decide who would be his running mate.
“Unahin muna naming pag determine ng presidential candidate. Yung pagpili ng vice presidential candidate, ipasa na sa presidential candidate (We will first determine our presidential candidate. Then we will let the presidential candidate choose his vice president),” he said.
“Kasama na kasi dyan ang strategy, political tactics dyan. So uunahin namin ang pagpili ng presidente, and then delegate to him yung detalye ng tiket niya (Because that would form part of the strategy and political tactics. So we will prioritize choosing the president and delegating to him the details of his ticket),” said Pimentel.
On Tuesday, the Cusi-led faction announced that President Duterte has accepted the nomination to run for vice president in the 2022 polls.