Presidential aspirant Senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao still hopes to unite the dominant PDP-Laban but without Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi who led a breakaway group that led to the split of the political party headed by President Rodrigo Duterte.
While Duterte took Cusi’s side, Pacquiao said he does not resent Duterte.
“Hindi kami magkaaway. Hindi masama ang loob ko sa kanya. Hindi ako galit sa kanya. (We are not enemies. I have no ill feelings toward him. I am not angry at him,” Pacquiao told the press conference that followed distribution of cash and relief aid to at least 600 victims of a recent fire in General Santos City.
“Galit ako sa mga kawatan. Sa corruption ako galit kasi dahil diyan naghirap ang ating bansa. (I have hatred against grafters. I am enraged at corruption because this is the reason why our country is poor.),” the PROMDI presidential bet said.
Pacquiao blamed Cusi for the bickering that triggered the once formidable PDP-Laban.
“May problema tayo sa energy pero siya pulitika. Maghanap ka ng paraan para masolusyon sana ang mga problema at mapababa ang presyo ng kuryente, hindi iyong puro ka pulitika. (We have an energy problem yet you indulge in politics. You should have taken steps to solve the problem and lower the price of electricity, instead of engaging in too much politics.),” he said.
Before the rift, Pacquiao appeared to be the sole PDP-Laban bet for president.
The Pacquiao camp said it was Cusi who initiated the issues that later led to a bickering between two factions and later the split.
Cusi’s group was reportedly eyeing Senator Christopher “Bong” Go to be PDP-Laban’s standard bearer, with incumbent President Duterte being the vice presidential bet.
As it turned out later, Go, who filed his presidential bid as a candidate for the PDDS, withdrew while Duterte is running as senator.
PDP-Laban is now left without any candidate for president or vice president.
Pacquiao believes there remains hope for the party to continue its grip to political power by uniting once more.