Power struggle brewing in ruling PDP-Laban party

A power struggle is reportedly brewing between oldtimers of the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) and the so-called “instant” members of President Duterte’s political party, sources said yesterday.

Insiders revealed the power struggle filtered down to the regional, provincial and local chapters of the party nationwide.

Original party members lamented that after Duterte assumed his post last June 30, an exodus of “turncoats” of newly elected local and national officials flooded the party without the necessary screening, which was a longtime practice of PDP-Laban.

“Suddenly every newly elected official wanted to join PDP Laban and some took their oath without undergoing a seminar,” a ranking party member said.

He said during the last elections, the party was very strict in issuing the Certificate of Nomination to certain candidates to protect the original party candidates in various parts of the country.

However, after the elections, some PDP-Laban candidates who were defeated in the local polls suddenly found their opponent taking oath as party member.

The party member also expressed his concern over remarks of the President describing PDP- Laban as a “moribund party” that was revived after he assumed his post.

“We, the original members of the party sacrificed during the campaign but our political rivals are now taking over our party positions,” he said.

The party member said they will bring the issue of turncoats’ “creeping control” over party leadership to Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III.

It was the Senate President’s namesake and father former senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. who founded the PDP-Laban in 1982. The party catapulted the late president Corazon Aquino to the presidency in the historic 1986 snap elections.

The party is now headed by Duterte as chairman with the younger Pimentel as president.

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez is the incumbent secretary general.

In several campaign speeches, Duterte described the PDPLaban as a “moribund” political party until he accepted its offer to become the party’s presidential standard bearer in the May 2016 elections, which he won by landslide.

Duterte credited his victory to the overwhelming support of the people.

It was PDP-Laban that laid the political groundwork for the candidacy of Duterte when it fielded Martin Diño, party deputy secretary general for Luzon, as its presidential candidate while Duterte was still undecided to run.

Diño later withdrew candidacy.