MANILA — President Rodrigo R. Duterte will not meddle in the quarrel among members of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP Laban), Malacañang said Thursday.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made this remark after a group of alleged PDP Laban members on Wednesday questioned the mass oath-taking activities recently initiated by the ruling party.
The group claimed that PDP Laban secretary general, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez allowed new members sworn into the party without undergoing membership seminars as required by the party’s constitution and by-laws.
It also questioned why other members from Mindanao were not invited to the PDP-Laban’s recent anniversary celebration in a hotel in Makati.
Roque said that Duterte, chairman of the ruling party, was aware of this issue.
However, Roque said that Duterte would leave it to Alvarez and PDP Laban president and Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III and Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi to resolve the issue.
“Does the President know about these gripes? Well the President defers to the leadership, I’m sure this will be threshed out in due course. But the President has full trust and confidence in Senate President Pimentel, Speakers Alvarez and Secretary Cusi,” Roque said in a Palace briefing.
“The President has said time and again that the management – although he remains Chair of the PDP Laban – the day-to-day management of party affairs has been delegated to both Senate President Koko Pimentel and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, as well as Energy Secretary Cusi ‘no,” he added. (PNA)
