MANILA, Philippines —Senator Manny Pacquiao remains an ally of President Rodrigo Duterte despite apparent rift within the party over the assembly of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), Malacañang said Tuesday.
“I believe so, wala naman pong nangyaring pagbabago bagamat natuloy po yung PDP Laban (meeting), he (Pacquiao) remains to be party president as of now,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said when asked if he thinks Pacquiao is still a Duterte ally.
(That’s what I think, nothing changed even though the PDP-Laban meeting went ahead. He’s still the party president for now.)
As part of its push to make Duterte vice president, the PDP-Laban party officially endorsed him on Monday.
READ: PDP-Laban adopts reso to ‘convince’ Duterte to run for VP in 2022 polls
But Pacquiao, the acting party president, discouraged members from going to the assembly, which was later revealed to have been ordered by Duterte.
READ: Ignore Cusi’s call for nat’l assembly, Pacquiao urges PDP-Laban members
READ: Duterte gave Cusi order to convene PDP-Laban nat’l assembly — Palace
Pacquiao reportedly wants to sit down with Duterte and talk about the 2022 political plans.
“Wala pa pong schedule pero wala rin naman akong nakikitang hadlang sa pagpupulong na yan,” Roque said of the meeting being eyed.
(There’s no schedule yet, but I don’t see any hurdle from having this meeting.)