MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) plans to conduct a hearing on Thursday, October 18, about “intra-party” controversies, such as the one hounding senatorial hopeful Freddie Aguilar and his purported party, PDP-Laban. 

In a press conference on Friday, October 12, Comelec Chairman Sheriff Abas said commissioners discussed this issue in their executive session. He said the Comelec will give a notice to both parties in the case, and quickly issue a decision after the October 18 hearing.

He said “intra-party” controversies like this usually need a notice of hearing.

“Ang commitment naman namin, after ng hearing, pabibilisan namin ang desisyon para naman hindi ma-confuse ‘yung mga kandidato,” Abas said. (Our commitment is that after the hearing, we will quickly release a decision so the confusion among candidates is cleared up.)

Aguilar claimed he was running under ruling party PDP-Laban.

But PDP-Laban on Thursday, October 11, disowned Aguilar as one of its senatorial bets despite a certificate of nomination and acceptance (CONA) submitted by Aguilar.

The CONA is supposed to prove that an individual is a certain party’s bet. It is submitted alongside the certificate of candidacy (COC) of each candidate.

Aguilar submitted to the Comelec a CONA signed by Wilfredo Talag, who claimed to be the secretary general of PDP-Laban. Talag is part of what party president Senator Aquilino Pimentel III describes as a “rogue” PDP-Laban faction. (READ: Duterte to ‘unify’ PDP-Laban factions) – Rappler.com