Tagagamit:BSrap/2021 PDP–Laban political dispute

2021 PDP–Laban dispute
Bahagi ng 2022 Philippine presidential election
President Duterte (right) meets with Senator Manny Pacquiao at the Study Room of Malacañan Palace on August 1, 2016
Petsa	May 2021 – ongoing
Caused by	Encouragement to run Sara Duterte as president Corruption
Status	Alfonso Cusi expelled as vice chairman of PDP–Laban
Parties to the civil conflict
Rodrigo Duterte Sara Duterte Alfonso Cusi Manny Pacquiao

The 2021 PDP–Laban dispute involves President Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Manny Pacquiao – all of whom are belonging to the same ruling party, PDP–Laban, in which Duterte is the party's chairman and Pacquiao is the party's president – mainly due to party members' encouragement to run Mayor of Davao City Sara Duterte for president in 2022 presidential elections and the corruption in the government under the Duterte administration.

Background

In June 2020, American boxing promoter Bob Arum said that Senator Manny Pacquiao confided to him that he will run for president in 2022. Pacquiao later denied talking about politics with Arum. Boxing promoter Bob Arum said Pacquiao told him that he will run for president in 2022. Pacquiao later denied talking about politics with Arum. On December 3, 2020, Pacquiao was elected as party president of PDP–Laban, of which President Duterte is the party chairman. On May 3, 2021, when Pacquiao is asked for plans of running as a President, he replies "for now, let's not think about that."

Sara Duterte as a potential candidate for president

Rodrigo Duterte is against her daughter from running, while the government has said that she will surely win in a presidential election against Vice President Leni Robredo. The Dutertes got a favorable response from a survey among Visayas and Mindanao residents in 2019. Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said that Mayor Duterte will decide on this by January 2021. On May 25, 2021, the Malacañang Palace denied that the Duterte administration was behind of pushing the presidential daughter to run as president. Duterte told her father she would not run. Despite this, on June 7, 2021, former Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said that Sara Duterte "will make a good president." Teodoro also met her in person at her office in Davao City. On June 8, President Duterte told pastor Apollo Quiboloy in an interview that he told Sara the previous night to "not run. Do not ever, ever commit the mistake of running for the presidency."

Events

Secretary of Energy Alfonso Cusi also intervened by criticizing Pacquiao for his actions against Duterte and his government.

On March 31, 2021, Pacquiao told Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi not to "divide" and "poison" the minds of the PDP–Laban members amidst talks of the party's lineup for the 2022 elections. The former added that Cusi not to retract his statement that the party should prioritize the COVID-19 pandemic over politics.

Pacquiao also intervened regarding the disputes in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). On May 3, 2021, Pacquiao said that Duterte's stance against China about the WPS weakened following the 2016 elections, describing his response to them as "lacking." Pacquiao also stated that Duterte must fulfill his promise to "ride a jetski" and flag the country's flag there. On May 27, the PDP–Laban said that Pacquiao orders its members to not to attend the party assembly organized by Cusi. On May 31, PDP–Laban voted a resolution that urging Duterte to run as vice president in 2022 presidential elections.

On June 3, Pacquiao criticized Cusi for a series of power outages in Luzon attributed to the hot weather which increased demand for electricity power. Cusi, in a press briefing in Malacañang, asserted that the power supply is normal and sufficient. On June 7, 2021, on his interview with Karen Davila of ABS-CBN News, Pacquiao said to the supporters of Sara Duterte that "let's give others a chance." He added that being president is "anointed by God" and, despite the dispute with Duterte, he will not leave PDP–Laban. On June 8, 2021, Duterte said that Pacquiao should "study first" before making comments regarding Duterte's foreign policy over China. On July 2, Senate President Tito Sotto believed that Senator Koko Pimentel has the authority to stop the dispute within the PDP-Laban, which was founded by Pimentel's son, late Senate President Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel Jr. Former Senator Antonio Trillanes said that the PDP-Laban was just "playing" Pacquiao, and also accused Duterte of "controlling the party."

On July 7, Duterte said that Pacquiao shared similarities on former Senator Antonio Trillanes, Duterte's longtime opponent. On July 9, PDP–Laban Vice Chairman Cusi, along with party deputy secretary general Melvin Matibag and membership committee head Astra Naik, were expelled from the party for "showing allegiance to a political party apart" from the party. On July 10, Senator Koko Pimentel said that in order to solve the dispute within the ruling party, he wanted Cusi to reveal its "hidden" presidential bet for the 2022 elections. On July 13, Cusi said that the party's endorsement of Davao City Sara Duterte for the presidential race was "possible." Cusi added that Pacquiao may face expulsion from the party following the latter's accusations of government corruption under the Duterte administration.

Pacquiao's claims on government corruption

On June 29, following Pacquiao's accusations that the government under the Duterte administration was more corrupt than the previous administration, Duterte challenged Pacquiao to expose government offices involved in the corruption. On the same day, Pacquiao accepted Duterte's challenge; Pacquiao said that he is not a liar and corrupt. He noted that President Duterte himself also acknowledged in October 2020 that government corruption has persisted. Duterte warned Pacquiao that he would campaign against the latter if he fail to name the corrupt officials. Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) chief Greco Belgica said that many cases of corruption have been solved. Pacquiao first named the DOH, which he dared Secretary Francisco Duque to show the DOH's expenses including where the COVID-19 pandemic funds went. Duque himself was "disheartened" by Pacquiao's allegations.

On July 3, Pacquiao alleged that the ₱10.4 billion of pandemic funds by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) are missing. He noted that the government borrowed P207.6 billion for the Filipinos who lost their livelihood due to COVID-19 pandemic. He also questioned the distribution of the social amelioration program (SAP) via e-wallet application called Starpay, in which he said that out of the 1.8 million SAP beneficiaries, only 500,000 were able to download the app. On the same day, Pacquiao clarified that he help Duterte fighting corruption and he is not quarreling with him. On July 12, Duterte called Pacquiao "punch drunk" over the latter's claim of government corruption. Malacañang denounced Pacquiao's claims, stating that his allegations are baseless. Last week, Duterte also mentioned Pacquiao's tax evasion case and told him that "cheating the government is a form of corruption."