Pimentel: SC can still review Comelec ruling on true PDP-Laban party faction
The Supreme Court can still review the en banc decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) declaring the Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban (PDP-Laban) faction identified with former president Rodrigo Duterte as the recognized "true and official members" of the party. Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III, national chairman of the PDP-Laban (Pimentel/Pacquiao) faction, said the certificate of finality issued by the Comelec regarding their dispute over the leadership of PDP-Laban is just a ‘’pro forma, automatic announcement based on its own practice or institutional habit.’’ Pimentel, a bar topnotcher, emphasized that the Comelec cannot, by its own pronouncements, deprive the Supreme Court of jurisdiction ‘’to review its actions and decisions especially when they are exposed to be whimsical, capricious, arbitrary or issued with grave abuse of discretion, such as the decision in this case.’’ The PDP-Laban split into two factions - Cusi and Pimentel/Pacquiao - during the May 2022 presidential elections. Former president Duterte is identified with the faction of former Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi.