Former Senator Manny Pacquiao has been officially kicked out as member of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Laban (PDP Laban).
.Pacquiao ran and lost in the six-man field of candidates in the 2022 presidential elections won by PresidentFerdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
PDP-Laban, chaired by former President Rodrigo Duterte, backed Marcos and now Vice President Sara Duterte in the May election.
The eight-division boxing champion was ousted through a resolution during the PDP Laban’s annual convention last week in Parañaque City.
Pacquiao was ousted for aligning with another party, the Progressive Movement for the Devolution of Initiatives is or PROMDI in his presidential run in May.
Pacquiao’s ouster was revealed by Senator Ronald “‘Bato'” dela Rosa in an interview with SMNI News.
Broadcaster and senatorial aspirant Raffy Tulfo on Monday said the camp of Sen. Manny Pacquiao asked him to run as the lawmaker’s vice president in the 2022 elections.
“Sinabi ko na napakabilis naman ata agad yun bang paglundag, vice president agad. Sabi ko, isa pa, hindi ko puwedeng banggain si Pangulong Duterte dahil siya’y kaibigan ko. Isa pa, nandiyan si Sen. Tito Sotto, di ko rin puwedeng banggain. Pumayag naman sila,” he said.
Pacquiao made the offer to Tulfo even as he has already tapped Deputy Speaker and Buhay Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza to be his running mate.
Tulfo, who is gunning for a Senate seat, is already included in Pacquiao’s slate along with several senators up for reelection and former lawmakers seeking a comeback. The lineup also includes a labor leader and human rights lawyer.
Theminority party Aksyon Demokratiko is getting stornger as thousands of politicians join the party led by presidential aspirant Manila Mayor Isko Moreno.
“We had 4,000 more or less candidates jumping ship from different political parties nationwide,” Aksyon Chairman Ernest Ramel told ‘The Chiefs’ on Cignal’s One News.
“They want to be adopted because they believe in the party’s principles and believe in what Mayor Isko stands for,” he added.
Liberal Party bet Mar Roxas will suffer the most in Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte joining the 2016 presidential derby, a political analyst said.
“Mar Roxas will really suffer from this development,” said Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform.
After earlier closing the door to a presidential run, Duterte on November 21, announced he would run for President.
The turn-around was sparked by the decision of the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) that Poe, a foundling, was a natural-born citizen and qualified to sit as a senator.
The 5-4 decision in favor of Poe of the 9-member SET also removed any legal obstacle to Poe seeking the presidency.
Duterte described the SET decision as “showbiz” and insists Poe is not a natural-born citizen which is required of candidates for President under the Constitution.
Casiple described Duterte’s entry as a “game changer” that could impact on pre-poll survey ratings for presidential preference.
Previous surveys of both the Social Weather Station (SWS) and Pulse Asia had independent candidate Poe leading the pack, followed by Vice President Jejomar Binay of the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), with Roxas at third and Duterte at the fourth spot.
Casiple said Duterte could rattle the rankings of the leading bets, but may not drastically change the rankings of Poe and Binay.
With Duterte in the race, the “votes will now be spread around and one candidate will lose votes more than the others,” he said.
Explaining why a Duterte candidacy would be a disaster to Roxas, Casiple said Roxas’ bailiwick—the Visayas—will likely go for Duterte. He adds that the Davao City mayor is also very popular in Mindanao.
“Roxas was in the third spot while Duterte was in the fourth. If Duterte performs well, he can easily dislodge Mar from the third spot,” he added.
Casiple said he would not expect Duterte to jump to the top spot.
“He is a game changer, not in the sense that he will be the frontrunner. Nor will he likely change the top one and top two posts held by Senator Grace Poe and Vice President Jejomar Binay,” said Casiple.
On November 21, Duterte first bared he was running at the Philippine Gastroentrologists Society convention at the Iloilo Convention Center.
My presidential candidacy is “on the table,” he told convention participants after describing the SET decisions as “flaunting the Constitution.”
He would reiterate the same announcement on the same day in Cavite while attending a birthday party of a lawyer friend.
On November 22, in Davao City, Duterte also bared his plan to run in a pre-taped edition of his weekly program Gikan sa Masa Para sa Masa television program on ABS/CBN.
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