AFTER former President Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte called the House of Representatives the most rotten institution, a veteran lawmaker predicted Tuesday that more House members will continue to abandon the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) to the point that only four to five lawmakers will remain in the erstwhile ruling party.

Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel, PDP-Laban’s Deputy Secretary General for Mindanao, said his colleagues decided to defend the honor, dignity, and integrity of the House of Representatives from baseless and unfounded remarks, stressing this is the right thing to do.

“Well probably, you already know what happened, it started when there were some accusations against Congress na sinabi nga ng former President natin na bulok tayong institution so the congressmen took it upon themselves also to defend the dignity of the institution. Now, I believe, it could also be one of the main reasons why they decided to transfer to other political parties because they couldn’t anymore reconcile their mandate, their duties, and functions as members of the House to their duties and functions as members of PDP-Laban,” Pimentel said on the PDP-Laban which had 65 members when the 19th Congress opened in July 2022.

Former President Duterte is the PDP-Laban chairman.

“We already know that Congress is a collegial body and there is a leadership that manages or supervises the affairs of Congress. So therefore we, as members of Congress, should also be aligned or attuned to the direction of the leadership,” Pimentel said.

“But it seems that the direction of PDP Laban is going to another direction so probably, the other members deemed it prudent to transfer to other parties because we can’t serve two masters,” Pimentel added.

From the present 15 members, Pimentel also said only four to five members are expected to stay in the PDP-Laban. “If my information is reliable, I believe, ang maiiwan na lang sa PDP, may mga 4 to 5 members na lang, as far as Congress is concerned.”

“Well, I’m still waiting for developments but I’m already weighing my options. Most probably, I’m also transferring to another party,” Pimentel said.

During the start of the Duterte administration, Pimentel said the membership of the PDP-Laban had reached around 120.

Recently, seven former members of PDP-Laban, namely Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio “Dong” D. Gonzales Jr. of Pampanga and Reps. Carmelo “Jon” B. Lazatin II of Pampanga, Zaldy S. Villa of Siquijor, Edwin L. Olivares of Parañaque City, Antonino G. Calixto of Pasay City, Glona G. Labadlabad of Zamboanga del Norte, and Eduardo Roa Rama Jr. of Cebu joined the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD).

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Ryan Ponce Pacpaco