Pimentel: PDP-Laban Cusi wing’s backing of Marcos Jr. ‘transactional politics’

The endorsement of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.'s candidacy by the PDP-Laban faction led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi is “transactional politics,” Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said.

“Well, they are misusing the name of the party, illegitimately using it. They are destroying the party to the ground,” Pimentel said in a CNN interview on Wednesday.

Pimentel had earlier slammed Cusi’s group for endorsing Marcos, saying the PDP-Laban was established to fight the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s rule.

Pimentel added that he believes the Cusi faction will abandon PDP-Laban and jump to the political party of whoever wins the presidency in the 2022 national and local elections.

“I know what will happen after the elections, the leadership of this group will jump to the political party of the winner,” he said.

Pimentel—whose father, the late Senate President Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel Jr., is among PDP-Laban's founders—added that they will “rebuild” the party after the May 9 elections.

“Kailangan natin ng prinsipyo. Hindi puwedeng transactional,” Pimentel said.

(The party needs to stand on principles. We should not practice transactional politics.)

'Nilalako ang grupo'

Pimentel said that Marcos Jr. was the fourth person to be pushed by the Cusi group for the presidency.

“Pang-apat na presidential candidate na ito na nahanap ng grupo ni Secretary Cusi. Hindi pa ba pruweba 'yan na nilalako ang kanilang grupo? So this is transactional politics,” he went on.

Pimentel reiterated that the faction’s support to Bongbong is the “anti-thesis” or the opposite of what the party stands for.

The PDP-Laban stalwart also said Cusi’s group did not follow the proper process in selecting their presidential candidate for 2022.

On Monday, Cusi’s group adopted a resolution formally endorsing Marcos Jr.’s candidacy, saying he is the candidate most aligned to the development program of its current chairman, President Rodrigo Duterte.

The PDP-Laban faction earlier endorsed the vice presidential bid of the president’s daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.

Two factions of the PDP-Laban are vying for recognition before the Commission on Elections—that of Cusi and Duterte, and the other of Pimentel and presidential candidate Senator Manny Pacquiao.

In 2021, the Cusi-led wing asked the poll body to declare Pimentel and Pacquiao illegal representatives of the party.

The PDP-Laban has no candidates for president and vice president in the 2022 elections after the infighting between the two factions.

Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, Duterte's longtime aide, initially filed his candidacy for vice president under PDP-Laban, while Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, a staunch Duterte ally, originally filed his candidacy for president under the ruling party.

Go, however, withdrew his bid after presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte filed her candidacy for vice president. Dela Rosa, meanwhile, withdrew his candidacy.

Go filed a COC for president as a substitute under Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan (PDDS), a party allied with the PDP-Laban. He also withdrew his presidential bid later on. — BM, GMA News