Five to 10 members of the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Laban ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) could face disciplinary actions for participating in last week’s gathering in Quezon City, Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, PDP-Laban president said on Tuesday.
A new set of leaders were supposedly elected in the assembly last Friday that gathered people claiming to be the “genuine” members of the party.
READ: PDP-Laban’s ‘genuine party members’ elect new execs; Bong Go is auditor
But Pimentel said the party members who joined the assembly could face disciplinary actions — including expulsion— for the unauthorized use of the PDP-Laban party name.
“May nakilala naman akong siguro mga mukha doon,” he said in an interview at the Senate. “Pina check ko nga sa HQ, sabi nila mga five to 10 pa nga daw e.”
Asked what penalty would be imposed on erring members, Pimentel said: “Up to expulsion because this is an act inimical to the party.”
“I mean, using in an unauthorized way the name of the party. Singing the national anthem incorrectly… Napakalaking krimen po nun,” he added.
The senator said he personally identified five party mates in the gathering, including Rogelio Garcia and Abbin Dalhani, who were elected president and vice president of PDP-Laban, respectively, during the assembly.
And contrary to persistent reports that some party mates are defecting to other groups, Pimentel said the PDP-Laban remains intact until now.
“Wala. Hanggang ngayon sa inyo ko pa rin naririnig,” he said when asked how many members had left the party.
In fact, he said, the party has 93,000 members nationwide and 300,000 pending membership applications. /muf