Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III and Energy Sec. Alfonso Cusi. FILE PHOTOS
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said the PDP-Laban faction led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi should form its own political group, quipping it should be named “Ihip ng Hangin” party.
“If we are to move on, we must move on with principles. Hindi pwedeng walang prinsipyo ang partido mo, ‘kung saan ang ihip ng hangin, dito. Kung saan uso dito tayo,’” Pimentel said in a Teleradyo interview on Wednesday.
(If we are to move on, we must move on with principles. A party should never be without principles, just ‘go where the wind blows. Just go with the trend.’)
“Kaya nga uulitin ko: Kung nagbuo lang sana sila ng sarili nilang partido o grupo, walang problema. ‘Wag nilang dalhin ang pangalan ng PDP-Laban. Kaya nga ang suggestion ko, buo sila ng sariling political party, tawagan na nila itong ‘ihip ng hangin’ political party,” he added.
(I’m saying this again: If they formed their party or group, no problem. Don’t bring the name of PDP-Laban. That’s why my suggestion, is they should form their own party then call it “ihip ng hangin” [go where the wind blows] political party.)
He was reacting to Cusi stressing the need “to move forward” when faced with criticisms that his faction’s endorsement of presidential candidate former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. goes against the founding principles of the PDP-Laban, which was created to oppose the Marcos dictatorship.
“We are moving forward because if we always think of the past and we live by the past, nothing will happen to us. If we were rotten before, we will still be rotten now,” Cusi had said.
While Pimentel was frustrated over what had happened, he said this was an “anticipated” move from the Cusi faction.
The Pimentel group and the Cusi wing within PDP-Laban have been at odds with one another over the leadership of the party.
“Nakakainis din kasi ginagamit kasi yung pangalan ng partido mo, namin. So nainis po kami at saka yung napili pa nilang iendorso is the opposite ng aming mga plataporma…given the history of the party kung bakit nabuo,” Pimentel said.
(It’s frustrating because our party’s name is being used. So we were frustrated and then they picked someone who is the opposite of our platform…given the history of why the party was formed.)
“Parang nagke-claim pa sila na sila ang leader, may petition pa sila sa Comelec (Commission on Elections) pagkatapos mga kilos nila ganyan, wala silang naintindihan sa partido,” he added.
(They’re claiming that they are the leader, they filed a petition before the Comelec and then they will act this way, they know nothing about the party.)
Under the Cusi faction’s resolution formalizing its endorsement of Marcos, it said that the former senator is the candidate “whose platform is most aligned with the development program of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.”
“He is the candidate whose vision of governance is most aligned with PDP Laban’s 11-point agenda,” it added.
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INQUIRER.net has reached out to Atty. Melvin Matibag, Secretary-General of the PDP-Laban Cusi wing, for comment on Pimentel’s remarks.