PDP-Laban hopeful Go might change mind about running
MANILA, Philippines — The PDP-Laban faction led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi on Wednesday said it will wait "until the end" for Sen. Christopher "Bong" Go to agree to be its standard-bearer in 2022.
This comes after Go again turned down the group's nomination for him to run in tandem with President Rodrigo Duterte. The president accepted his party's call to seek the vice presidency at a convention but his longtime aide Go later released a statement urging the party to look for another presidential candidate.
At a press conference held later in the evening, PDP-Laban secretary-general Melvin Matibag said the party "will wait" for Go to change his mind.
"The more important thing is the president has already accepted the nomination for vice president," he said in Filipino.
Asked by reporters how long the party intends to wait for Go to change his mind, Matibag said: "Until the end. Hanggang pwede (While it is still possible)." He said he and the members of the Cusi-led faction would "continue praying".
Duterte, in the run-up to the 2016 polls, said he was not interested in running for president but eventually declared his candidacy as a last-minute subsitute.
The president's daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, is also seen as a potential presidential candidate and topped surveys from earlier this year. Like her father before her, she has remained vague about plans to run for higher office.
There are two warring wings of PDP-Laban, one led by Cusi and the other led by Sen. Manny Pacquiao, both claiming to be the legitimate ruling party.
In an escalation of the conflict between the two factions, the Cusi wing asked the Comelec on Tuesday to declare the Pacquiao wing as illegitimate and to stop them from acting on behalf of the party.
The Cusi wing, despite being confident that they will be declared as the legitimate PDP-Laban in the end, said they are prepared for any outcome, including having their bets run as independent candidates in the event their faction is declared illegitimate. — with a report from Xave Gregorio
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