PDP Laban reunification talks ongoing

Senators Robin Padilla and Christopher "Bong" Go on Thursday revealed the possible unification of the two factions of the once-ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino Lakas ng Bayan or PDP Laban party.

Padilla, who resigned as PDP Laban executive vice president, said he has been "courting" Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III to reunite the two factions.

"I court him every single day. Every day, I tell him: 'Boss, let us just unite in the PDP,'" he said.

To recall, the Commission on Elections en banc in January upheld the decision of its second division, declaring the PDP Laban wing led by former Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi as the "true and official" party.

Cusi had filed a petition with the poll body in 2021 to declare the Pimentel-led PDP Laban faction as illegitimate.

Days before the elections in May last year, the second division of the Comelec, in an 11-page resolution, granted his petition over the Pimentel-Manny Pacquiao-led faction.

The poll body also ruled as valid the Cusi wing's national assembly held in Pampanga in July last year, where Pimentel and Pacquiao, then the party president and chairman, respectively, were expelled from the party.

Padilla said his ongoing talks with Pimentel have the blessing of PDP Laban chairman and former president Rodrigo Duterte.

"Even before, we were given the freedom to speak with Senator Koko," Padilla said when asked if the former president was aware of the move.

Meanwhile, Go asserted that while he remained open to the unification of the two PDP Laban factions, their respective members needed to be consulted.