In wake of “malign” campaign vs PBBM

LEADERS of the House of Representatives are projecting a lot of desertions from former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s PDP and Vice President Sara Duterte’s Hugpong ng Pagbabago in the wake of what they called the previous leader’s “malign, mudslinging” campaign against President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr.

They made the prediction during Thursday’s regular press conference of House members.

They said some deserters may choose to join the newly-formed alliance between Lakas-CMD and Partido Federal ng Pilipinas.

“It seems to me na yung mga personalities who are involved, who are actively trying to malign the administration, who are mudslinging against the administration, na sila po talaga, marami po sa kanila talaga mahahanap duon po sa mga miyembro ng PDP,” Deputy Majority Leader and Isabela Rep. Faustino Dy V said.

Dy said he suspects that PDP and Hugpong members who are not comfortable with what is going on in their parties and who want to continue supporting the Marcos administration might opt to affiliate with other political groups.

“Marahil yung mga miyembro ng PDP or ng Hugpong na hindi sumasang-ayon sa mga nangyayari na gustong makitungo pa rin sa banner ng ating mahal na Pangulo na unity progress for our country, then makikita natin na marahil na sila po ay kumatok sa ibang mga partido, at lumipat ng ibang partido,” he said.

“Dahil ayaw naman po natin ng ganitong klaseng pamumulitika e. Negative politics at this point in time shouldn’t have a place here…sabi nga po ni President Marcos yesterday in the PFP LAKAS alliance event na we are not recovering from pandemic. But we are transforming our economy into what it should be,” he said.

“So, we should all be supportive of this vision of our President. So again, ako po ang suspetsa ko marami sa mga miyembro ng PDP or Hugpong na di sumasang-ayon sa nangyayari ngayon sa kanilang mga partido, marahil ay lumipat po sila sa ibang partido,” he added.

Another deputy majority leader, Tingog Partylist Rep. Jude Acidre challenged allies of the Dutertes to choose between supporting politics of division and politics of unity.

“Ito ay challenge ko sa partido PDP – kailangan nilang mamili at a certain point, kailangan nilang diinan kung sila ba ay para sa bayan or kanila bang papayagan ang ganitong mga salita?…It’s a choice that the party has to make – will they tolerate this language, this behavior?” he asked.

“That clearly weakens, attempts to weaken our political institution hindi ba? Or doon ba sila sa grupo kung saan gusto nating palakasin pa ang ating mga institusyong politikal. Meron tayong Pangulo ngayon na nananawagan na magkaisa tayo, somebody who tries to unite. Anybody siguro who wants to divide must be made accountable, whether politically or by whatever means for taking that stand,” he said.

He noted that during PDP’s recent meeting in Cebu City, party president Rep. Jose Alvarez of Palawan declared that the statements of former President Duterte, their party chairman, were his own.

Acide added that in the case of House members belonging to PDP, he could see that most of them still support President Marcos and the leadership of Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez.

Another House officer, Assistant Majority Leader and Manila Rep. Ernesto Dionisio Jr. said he would like to think that there are PDP members who would like to support the unity goal of the President.

“I don’t think the entire party (PDP) would like to go against the administration. like I said, unifying President to eh, gusto niya maging maayos yung bansa talaga through unity…Siguro may iilan na mga miyembro nung kanilang mga partido na interest driven politics, so sana mawala na yung ganyan,” he said.

“Eto na niyayakap na kayo ng Presidente, we need to unite with all the issues and problems that is happening in our country, we need every Filipino to support the President…So, I hope that members of the PDP Laban especially yung kasama namin sa Kongreso, they will be supporting the president and be amiable para sa bansa. Let’s be patriotic, hindi yung sa politika interest driven,” he said.

For his part, Deputy Majority Leader and Isabela Rep. Faustino Dy V echoed the unity call of the Chief Executive and his colleagues.

“There are a lot of pressing issues today that we’re facing. So, I hope we can really unify against these pressing problems at hindi tayo mismong mga Pilipino, tayo mismo nagbabangayan at nag aaway-away. Nakakasawa na po iyong ganito, nakakapagod, di ba?” Dy said.