From an estimated membership of 120 in the House of Representatives during the height of former president Rodrigo Duterte's term, the erstwhile ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) party now only has 15 members.
Surigao del Sur 2nd district Rep. Johnny Pimentel, a long-time stalwart, says he will also bolt the party soon.
Duterte party down to 15 House members; solon says number will drop further
Nov 14, 2023 10:33 AM
At a glance
Surigao del Sur 2nd district Rep. Johnny Pimentel (left), former president Rodrigo Duterte (Facebook, Malacañang photo)
How the mighty has fallen, and will continue to fall.
From an estimated membership of 120 in the House of Representatives during the height of former president Rodrigo Duterte's term, the erstwhile ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) party now only has around 10 percent of that number.
"As of the moment, 15 na lang ang natitira sa PDP-Laban...nalalagasan na (only 15 are left with PDP-Laban...it's dwindling)," Surigao del Sur 2nd district Rep. Johnny Pimentel told House reporters Tuesday, Nov. 14.
Pimentel is a veteran stalwart of PDP-Laban, but that may not last for long, too. Like the dozens of his now ex-party-mates, the Mindanaoan says he is also on his way out.
"I’m still waiting for developments but I’m already weighing my options. Most probably, I’m also transferring to another party," he admitted.
Former president Duterte chairs the party, while Alvarez is the party president.
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Asked to enumerate the 15 remaining PDP-Laban stalwarts off the top of his head, Pimentel gave these following names: Reps. Jose Alvarez, Eric Martinez, Ara Kho, Richard Kho, Tonton Kho, Carl Cari, Joel Sacdalan, Rose Panotes, Dale Corvera, Khalid Dimaporo, Ysabel Zamora, Mitch Cajayon Uy, Divine Yu, and Ruwel Gonzaga.
"I’m still with PDP Laban at the moment," said Pimentel, a former deputy speaker.
But he believes things will look even bleaker for PDP-Laban in the near future. "I was doing a headcount, if my information is reliable, I believe, ang maiiwan na lang sa PDP, may mga four to five members na lang (only four to five members will be left with PDP), as far as Congress is concerned."
'We can't serve two masters'
Asked why he thought solons have been bolting PDP-Laban, Pimentel made no bones with his answer.
"Well probably, you already know what happened. It started when there were some accusations against Congress na sinabi nga ng former president [Duterte] natin na bulok tayong institution (the former president said we belonged to a rotten institution).
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"So the Congressmen took it upon themselves also to defend the dignity of the institution. Now, i believe, it could also be one of the main reasons why they decided to transfer to other political parties because they couldn’t anymore reconcile their mandate, their duties and functions as members of [House] to their duties and functions as members of PDP-laban," he explained.
Pimentel also noted that PDP-Laban appears to be going in "another direction", and as such, "The other members deemed it prudent to transfer to other parties because we can’t serve two masters."
Pimentel said PDP-Laban had 65 members when the 19th Congress began in July 2022.