The camp of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi has called for an accounting of the Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban’s (PDP-Laban) funds from the group appointed by Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III.
Melvin Matibag, the Cusi group’s designated secretary general, made the call during an online press conference.
“PDP Laban has demanded an accounting of party funds that are with Mr. Evan Rebadulla, a person appointed by SKP to supposedly act as party treasurer. We call on Mr. Rebadulla to heed the party’s call. His obligation to account is a statutory obligation. We want to know who used our party’s funds and for what purpose,” Matibag said.
Matibag said their group is expecting around P100-million party funds that were collected by the camp of Pimentel.
"They have been mentioning that we have 100,000 members and they’ve been saying that a member in good standing should be paying the membership dues which is P1,000 so if it’s 100,000 members, then we’re looking at P100-million," he said.
Sought to comment, Pimentel rejected Matibag’s claims saying it only shows he knows nothing about party processes.
“ Atty. Matibag is bluffing once again. He doesn’t know anything about the Party. So he better not divert attention from the fact their group is a group dependent on developments from ‘outside the Party’ before they can finalize their presidential and vice presidential ticket,” Pimentel said.
“And a group is not really a political party if it gets its signals from outside the Party. Because that means you cannot autonomously decide things which are supposed to be purely Party matters. We have around 100,000 names in our database developed over the decades and the headquarters knows who are in good standing and those who are not; those who are the ‘associate members’; etcetera,” added the senator.
Pimentel also said the party’s Treasurer’s Report will be taken up during their national assembly organized by his faction. This will also be held in September.