SOME 257 PDP-Laban leaders from various regions in the country trooped last Saturday in the Grand Menseng Hotel in Davao City and converted their national conference into a National Council in session.
The National Council in their party’s constitution and bylaws is authorized to call for the yearly PDP-Laban national assembly, the highest body that would elect national officers for a two-year term.
The convened body asserting to be the “true and original” PDP-Laban members unanimously elected Rogelio V. Garcia, PDP-Laban Region 11 area president, and Abbin Dalhani, National Capital Region area president, as the National Council president and vice president, respectively.
Garcia said the move to convene into a National Council is rightful and mandated in the party’s constitution.
This group of PDP-Laban leaders has questioned the nationwide sweep of mass oath-taking activities initiated by Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez and Senate President Aquilino L. Pimentel III, which easily made the PDP-Laban as the country’s ruling party.
Alvarez, the national secretary-general of the party, has been much visible in mammoth mass oath-taking activities nationwide, which attracted turncoats from many incumbent officials, such as those from the ranks of the Liberal Party.
He earlier expelled several area-council officers, including Mindanao area council president Cesar Cuntapay, his province mate and erstwhile political ally.
PDP-Laban area council leaders took turns in airing their woes over several acts of Alvarez, such as replacing them as officers with new members and appointees following his mass oath-taking activities “in violation of the PDP-Laban constitution.”
A leader from Zamboanga Sibugay said it was unfair to them, as they were the ones who roamed their province to campaign for President Duterte, and they were replaced by Nacionalista members, while other new members via appointment bragged over their party membership without having a PDP-Laban chapter.
Darhani clarified they were not replacing the national officers, such as Duterte, who is the PDP-Laban national chairman, and Pimentel, the national president, but only the National Council, which “has not been calling for the yearly national assemblies and not recognizing” the regional area councils of PDP-Laban.
The convened body approved a resolution pinpointing the problems on the “questionable entry of new members,” the violations to party constitution and bylaws, and that “loyal and committed” party members have been alarmed over the entry of “political predators, butterflies and opportunists” to the party. It was addressed to Duterte.
They also approved a resolution supporting RevGov (revolutionary government).
Cuntapay, who first called for the national leaders’ assembly, lamented over the loss of integrity of the party that they have protected for 30 years.
In an interview, Cuntapay said Alvarez was just an associate PDP-Laban member having no chapter to begin with.
“He became a national officer out of formality when the party went national to support the candidacy of President Duterte,” he said.
Cesar Ledesma, one of the founders of PDP-Laban, said the participants are mostly “party leaders and cadres.” There were also few incumbents present in the gathering.
He said they have been reaching out to their national leaders for more than a year to discuss the problems several times, but they were always snubbed and not recognized.
Ledesma named some of the co-founders of the PDP-Laban when it was founded in 1981: former Sen. Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr., Reuben Canoy, the late Davao City Mayor Zaf Respicio and other Mindanao leaders.