No chance of Pacquiao ouster from PDP-Laban presidency —Munsayac

 

Any bid to oust Senator Manny Pacquiao PDP-Laban’s national president would have no chance to prosper as the majority of his partymates are confident in his leadership, the party’s executive director Ron Munsayac said Tuesday.

“We’ve been consulting all of our partymates. Confident sila sa liderato ni Senator Pacquiao, so wala kaming nakikita na tiyansa na mapapatalsik siya o aalis sa partido [They have confidence in Senator Paquiao's leadership, so we don't see any chance of him being ousted or leaving the party],” Munsayac said in a virtual press conference.

Munsayac added that Pacquiao is not inclined to create a new political party, saying the lawmaker was not offended or hurt over the conduct of the PDP-Laban national council meeting yesterday.

“Napakalayo sa kanyang isipan na umalis sa PDP-Laban [Leaving the party is so far from his mind],” he said.

Munsayac added that Pacquiao will stay in his post. “Yes, si Senator Pacquiao is still firmly our party president.”

The party official also said that the national council assembly led by PDP-Laban vice chair and Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi was not an “insult” to Pacquiao.

“Di naman po masama yung loob ni Senator Pacquiao, especially nu’ng nakita po namin ‘yung memorandum from chairman [Rodrigo] Duterte, from vice chairman Cusi to organize the national council meeting,” he said.

[Senator Pacquiao does not have any resentments about that, especially when we saw the memorandum from President Duterte.]

“Malungkot lang siguro kami to say the least dahil this early, pulitika na po yung pinaguusapan natin,” he added.

[We are just sad to say the least, because this early politics is already the topic.]

Munsayac insisted that the party officials should adhere to the rules of the PDP-Laban, where the party chairman and the party president should work together in holding a national assembly.

He said the PDP-Laban event on Monday was participated in by the “minority” with only 107 partymates attending, compared to the more than 100,000 members of the ruling party.

Munsayac and Pacquiao did not attend the national council meeting that was called by Cusi on Monday.

Earlier, Pacquiao had called on his partymates to ignore Cusi’s invitation for the national council meeting.

In a press conference on Monday, PDP-Laban secretary-general Melvin Matibag said the party will decide on the party leadership in July, including the possibility to conduct elections and replace Pacquiao, whom he said is sitting as “acting president.”

"Meron po kasi kaming proseso [We have a process] on how to elect the officers and it is the national assembly who will elect the officer. In the case of Senator Pacquiao, he assumed the position of acting president due to the resignation of Senator Koko Pimentel,” Matibag said.

During Monday's national assembly, the PDP-Laban council suggested holding another meeting on July 16. They also suggested having a national assembly on July 17 for electing their party officers.

However, the schedule was subject to the approval of PDP-Laban chairman President Rodrigo Duterte. — BM, GMA News

This article No chance of Pacquiao ouster from PDP-Laban presidency —Munsayac was originally published in GMA News Online.