Aquino expected LP members’ defection to PDP-Laban

THE defections were to be expected, but the Liberal Party will endure as a political party given its history and longevity, President Aquino said on Tuesday.

“I think what we should bear in mind is that the Liberal Party is the longest continuously run political party and there would be a part of us that would espouse the ideologies and beliefs of this party,” Aquino told the Inquirer in an interview at Malacañang.

The President is set to meet with “several” LP members today (Wednesday) but declined to give details on what would be on their agenda, at most saying that one of the matters to be discussed is the party’s own change of officers as its internal transition coincides after the elections.

The President is the chairman of the Liberal Party, which had at its members a number of the country’s most illustrious politicians including his own father, democracy icon Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr.

The party’s standard-bearer, Mar Roxas, was a far second to Rodrigo Duterte, in the May 9 presidential elections.

Soon after, other political parties entered into a coalition with Duterte’s Partido Demokratiko Pilipino- Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) turning it from a small group to the ruling political party almost overnight.

On him not being consulted on the matter of the LP members of the House of Representatives joining the majority bloc, Aquino said “it was a matter within the House” but that Speaker Feliciano Belmonte had informed him of the results of the discussion.

Despite the exodus, President Aquino remained confident that the LP would remain to be a significant force in the country’s political landscape.

“What is important to us are the individuals concerned, so long as the lines of communication are open. We understand where each one is coming from and each one is headed,” he said.

He also took note of the Inquirer report last Sunday naming former LP member Negros Oriental Rep. Alfredo “Albee” Benitez as the lead signatory among members of the LP Visayan bloc pledging support for incoming Davao del Note Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez in the race for Speaker in the 17th Congress.

“The first person that they named was no longer in the party, even before the start of the campaign. It was even mentioned in the article so I wondered why (the report) cited someone who had already left (the party),” President Aquino said.