Bato tells Pimentel s camp: I am the legal standard bearer of PDP-Laban

Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa on Monday said he is the legal standard bearer after Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III’s camp questioned his filing of certificate of candidacy for President in Eleksyon 2022.

After Dela Rosa filed his COC last Friday, Pimentel criticized their rival faction’s process of choosing their standard bearer.

“Walang nasunod sa national convention nila (Nothing was followed in the agreements they made during their national convention). All their nomination processes were useless. Somebody who runs for president on a spur of the moment decision is not a serious candidate,” Pimentel said.

In reaction to this, Dela Rosa, who belongs to the faction led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, said he will not be given a certificate of nomination and acceptance (CONA) if their group did not undergo a process.

“Hindi naman ako bibigyan ng CONA kung ‘di nila ako prinocess ‘di ba. Mabilis man o mabagal na process, still a process is done with regard to my nomination,” he said.

(I won’t be given a CONA if it did not undergo the process. The process may be fast, but still, a process is done with regard to my nomination.)

“Pabayaan mo na sila kung ano ang tigin nila sa ginawa naming proseso. Basta suffice to say I am the legal standard bearer of our party,” Dela Rosa added.

(Let them say what they want to say with regard to our process but suffice to say I am the legal bearer of our party.)

He also told Pimentel’s camp not to meddle with the affairs of their group. Rather, they should focus on fixing their own faction.

“’Wag nila pakialaman ang aming partido. Pakialaman nila ang kanilang partido. Ayusin nila ang partido nila,” he said.

(They should not meddle with our affairs because we are not intervening with their processes. They should fix their party instead.)

“Mayroon bang iba na binigyan ng CONA ang PDP-Laban? Wala naman siguro, ako lang naman. So I am the legal standard bearer of the party,” he asserted.

(Are there other candidates with CONA from PDP-Laban? I think there is none. So I am the legal standard bearer of the party.)

Pimentel’s faction has nominated Senator Manny Pacquiao as their standard bearer for Eleksyon 2022. However, Pacquiao filed a COC for president under PROMDI party, a Cebu-based political group allied with PDP-Laban.

‘Nakikihiram’

In a separate media interview Monday afternoon, Ron Munsayac, the executive director of PDP-Laban faction aligned with Pimentel’s camp, questioned the purpose of the national convention if the other faction will choose a different standard bearer during the filing of COC.

“Partido din po namin ‘yang PDP-Laban. Nakikihiram lang po sila. We’ve been here for decades already at may karapatan kaming mangialam kasi ang ginagamit nilang partido ay PDP-Laban,” he added.

(That is also our party. They are just borrowing it. We’ve been here for decades already and we have the right to intervene because the party that they are using is PDP-Laban.)

The camps of Pimentel and Cusi have been asserting authority over PDP-Laban.

The feud between the two camps started when Cusi’s group pushed for PDP-Laban national council meetings and assemblies without the blessing of Pacquiao and Pimentel.

Cusi’s group had filed a petition before the Commission on Elections to declare Pacquiao and Pimentel as illegal representatives of the party.

The poll body then ordered Pacquiao and Pimentel to respond to the petition filed by the Cusi wing.

Pacquiao’s group has maintained that they are the legitimate PDP-Laban group.

Pimentel has emphasized that he has been a member of PDP-Laban since the 1980s. His father, the late Senate President Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel, Jr., was one of the founders of the party.

The hearing on the petition filed by Cusi’s wing will commence this week, the Comelec said last week. —KG, GMA News

Bato tells Pimentel s camp: I am the legal standard bearer of PDP-Laban
Source: Filipino Viral News PH