Amid confusion and infighting in the administration party, PDP-Laban president and Senator Manny Pacquiao warned his party mates to follow the rules or leave.

“From now on, gusto kong ipaalam sa kanila (I want to let them know): not in my time as a president of the party. Gusto ko silang turuan ng leksyon (I want to teach them a lesson). I’m the president of the party and you must follow the rules and by-laws of the party,” Pacquiao said in an interview with Teleradyo on Thursday, July 1.

“If you don’t want to follow the protocols and by-laws of the party, then go ahead, lumipat ka ng ibang partido (move to another party),” he added.

Pacquiao accused Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, PDP-Laban vice chairman, of destroying the party. He also said that some members are just using the party as a “stepping stone” for their vested interests.

There have been reports that some party members are planning to oust Pacquiao as president.

Addressing the rumor, the senator said: “Anong violation ginawa ko para magalit sila? Is that due process? May due process ba ‘yan gagawin nila o baka sila mismo, si Cusi mismo, ang ‘di sumusunod sa due process?”

(What violation have I done to anger them? Is that due process? Is there due process in what they’re planning or is Cusi himself not following due process?)

Pacquaio drew the ire of President Rodrigo Duterte, the party chairman, drew after the senator – his former staunch ally – lamented corruption in government. An irked Duterte dared Pacquiao on Monday, June 28, to name these corrupt officials, or else he would campaign against the boxing champ.

“Go to Congress and start talking,” Duterte had told Pacquiao in his weekly public address. “If you will fail to do that, I will campaign against you, because you are not doing your duty. Do it, because if you will not, I will just tell the people, ‘Do not vote for Pacquiao because he is a liar.’”

It was not the first known incident of party infighting. In 2019, just ahead of the midterm elections, the party struggled for stability and survival following infighting among factions and the external threat from presidential daughter Sara Duterte’s regional party, Hugpong ng Pagbabago.

The battle went all the way to the Supreme Court, which ultimately decided that the faction led at the time by Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, Pacquiao’s ally, was the legitimate representation of PDP-Laban, Duterte’s political vehicle in the 2016 presidential election.

Koko is the son of the late senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr., who founded PDP-Laban in 1982 to help fight the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. – Rappler.com