Party denies rift with Palace

DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte on Wednesday welcomed the offer of Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr. for her to assume the chairmanship of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) as the party vehemently denied accusations that President Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte has been blaming Lakas-CMD for his daughter’s decision to run for vice president.

“I am honored to accept the Chairmanship of Lakas-CMD. Together with the party, I look forward to waging a successful campaign for UniTeam BBM-Sara, with the invaluable support of our fellow Filipinos,” Liloan Mayor Christina Frasco, Duterte’s spokesperson, quoted the mayor as saying.

Earlier in the day, Revilla said, “I have full trust and confidence in Mayor Sara Duterte’s leadership, I believe that she will steer the Party towards victory in 2022.”

“In full support of Mayor Sara Duterte’s candidacy for Vice President, I am offering her my post as Chairman of Lakas-CMD,” Revilla said.

In a related development, the Lakas-CMD denied the statement of DIWA party-list Rep. Michael Aglipay that President Duterte was mad at Lakas-CMD after Mayor Duterte filed her certificate of candidacy (COC) for President.

“President Rodrigo Duterte did not make any categorical statement blaming Lakas-CMD for the decision of Mayor Sara to run as Vice President. We would like to refer Rep. Mike Aglipay to the interview of President last Sunday with regard Mayor Sara’s decision. Nowhere in his statement did the President blame Lakas-CMD or any member of the party for the Mayor’s decision,” the Lakas-CMD said.

The Lakas-CMD also said “Representative Aglipay’s insinuations that rumors on a supposed coup to oust the Speaker and the Majority Leader may have come from them meaning Lakas” has absolutely no basis.

“This is utterly preposterous. Once again, these rumors did not originate from us and we don’t have any intention of changing the leadership in the House of Representatives,” the party said.

The Lakas-CMD said,”Mayor Sara is now the standard bearer of Lakas-CMD and the acknowledged guiding light of the Party. We are constantly guided by her instructions to continue forging alliances and maintaining good relationship with all forces supportive of the administration’s efforts to improve the living condition of the Filipino people.”

“We take this opportunity to reiterate our strong and unequivocal support to President Duterte and his bid for the Senate in the 2022 elections. We will continue to work closely with Malacañang to push for the President’s legislative agenda in the remaining months of the 18th Congress,” the party said.

“We should all stop these finger-pointing and destructive politics and concentrate on passing the 2022 budget and other significant measures that will help our country recover from the ill-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the party said.

“Let us take to heart the appeal of our standard bearer, Mayor Sara Duterte, in her call for unity especially those supporting President Duterte . As she aptly said, “magkaisa po tayong lahat na mga sumusuporta sa administrasyong Duterte. Iisa lang naman ang ating mga pangarap — ang pagkakaroon ng mas matatag, mas mapayapa, mas maulad na bansa,” the party added.