Robin Padilla to accept PDP presidency 'if it will help fellow Filipinos'

Senator Robin Padilla on Tuesday expressed willingness to be the next party president of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) if it will help Filipinos.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Padilla said he did not seek the position but it was just offered to him.

He likewise stressed that talks on him taking the PDP helm is still ongoing.

"Kung tatanungin mo ako, magandang position ang binibigay nila. Salamat sa pagtitiwala. Maraming salamat kay dating Pangulong Rodrigo Roa Duterte at  sa lahat na bumubuo ng PDP. Pero, siyempre, ito ay nasa loob pa rin ng pag-uusap hanggang ngayon," Padilla said.

"Kung tatanungin niyo po ako, hindi ko hiningi 'yan. Pati po itong pagiging senador, hindi ko hiningi. Ito ay bumagsak lang lahat sa harap ko. Kung nakikita ko po na makakagawa ako nang maganda at puwede akong  makatulong sa kapwa ko Pilipino ay tatanggapin ko," he added.

(They are offering a good position. Thank you for trusting me. Thank you to former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and everyone in the PDP. But of course talks are still ongoing.

I did not ask for this. Even being a senator. This just fell in front of me. If I can see that I can do good and help my countrymen then I will accept.)

According to Padilla, who earlier announced that he is the acting president of the party, he still wants to know what the PDP plans are and what the party wants him to do if he becomes their new leader.

Should he accept the position, Padilla said he will introduce proposals to the organization, but he did not elaborate on his plans.

PDP-Laban was formed in 1983 by the merger of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP), co-founded by Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel Jr., with the Lakas Ng Bayan (Laban) party, founded by Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. Both were opposition leaders during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

PDP-Laban was a dominant party in 1986, in the aftermath of the election victory of Aquino’s widow Corazon Aquino and Marcos's ouster. When Cory Aquino’s term ended in 1992, the party's influence waned until it backed Duterte’s presidential bid in 2016. In 2022, the wing led by Duterte and then-Energy secretary Alfonso Cusi announced its support for Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.’s presidential bid.

Padilla belongs to the PDP faction led by Duterte. They are in a legal battle with a faction led by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, the son of the late former Senator Nene Pimentel.

In 2022, the Commission on Elections ruled that the Duterte wing was the legitimate PDP-Laban party, but Pimentel's faction has since asked the Supreme Court to reverse that decision.

In April, the Duterte-led PDP faction dropped the "Laban" from the party name, and that it will only be known as the PDP. —RF, GMA Integrated News