Pacquiao presidential bid under PDP 'illegal': rival faction

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Sen. Manny Pacquiao shares the stage with Senator Aquilino ‘Koko’ Pimentel III during the formal launching of his presidential bid under the PDP-Laban (Pimentel-Pacquiao wing) in Quezon City on September 19, 2021. Team Pacquaio/ Handout" src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/09/20/mp.jpg"/><figcaption>Sen. Manny Pacquiao shares the stage with Senator Aquilino ‘Koko’ Pimentel III during the formal launching of his presidential bid under the PDP-Laban (Pimentel-Pacquiao wing) in Quezon City on September 19, 2021.<em> Team Pacquaio/ Handout</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA—The presidential bid of Sen. Manny Pacquiao under the ruling party PDP-Laban is illegal, a rival faction said Monday.</p><p>Lawyer Melvin Matibag, secretary-general of the PDP-Laban Cusi faction, said the assembly held in Sept. 8 where Sen. Bong Go and President Rodrigo Duterte were announced as the party&#x27;s presidential and vice presidential bets was the &quot;legitimate&quot; one.</p><p>&quot;Ngayon po, &#x27;yung naging pulong na &#x27;to illegal po &#x27;to (This assembly is illegal). They can be declared to be a candidate but not as a PDP-Laban candidate,&quot; he told Teleradyo.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/19/21/pacquiao-launches-bid-to-be-president-in-2022">Pacquiao accepts PDP-Laban faction&#x27;s nomination, launches 2022 bid for presidency</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/08/21/go-duterte-nominated-pdp-laban-factions-standard-bearer-vp-bet">Bong Go, Duterte nominated as PDP-Laban faction&#x27;s standard-bearer, VP bet</a></li></ul><p>On Sunday, Pacquiao announced his presidential candidacy during his PDP-Laban faction&#x27;s national assembly in Quezon City against the backdrop of an ongoing squabble within the ruling party.</p><p>The PDP-Laban split into 2 factions earlier this year after Pacquiao blocked his party mates&#x27; efforts to push Duterte to run for vice president next year.</p><p>Pacquiao&#x27;s group is backed by Sen. Aquilino &quot;Koko&quot; Pimentel III - son of PDP-Laban founder and former Sen. Aquilino &quot;Nene&quot; Pimentel Jr, while Duterte supports the wing led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi.</p><p>In the interview, Matibag said his group was not surprised that Pacquiao was gunning for the country&#x27;s highest office. He said it was part of the plan of the Pacquiao-led faction when the boxing champ was made party president.</p><p>&quot;Nadagdagan pa nga po &#x27;yan ng paniwala ni Sen. Pacquiao na kinausap siya ng Diyos at siya ang anointed one para maging Presidente. So mahirap naman pong pigilan &#x27;yun. Yun naman po ay pangarap niya,&quot; Matibag said.</p><p>(Sen. Pacquiao also believed God talked to him and he was the anointed one to become President. So, it&#x27;s hard to stop that. That&#x27;s his dream.)</p><p>Pacquiao was nominated by at least 20 PDP-Laban members with each region in the country fielding a representative to express support for the boxing icon&#x27;s presidential bid.</p><p>He is the second incumbent senator who will seek the Philippines&#x27; highest elected post in 2022.</p><p>Earlier this month, Sen. Panfilo Lacson launched his campaign for the presidency with Senate President Vicente Sotto III running as his vice president.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1777989" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

The presidential bid of Sen. Manny Pacquiao under the ruling party PDP-Laban is illegal, the rival faction said Monday.

Pacquiao presidential bid under PDP 'illegal': rival faction | ABS-CBN

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Pacquiao presidential bid under PDP 'illegal': rival faction

Pacquiao presidential bid under PDP 'illegal': rival faction

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 20, 2021 11:27 AM PHT

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Updated Sep 20, 2021 12:14 PM PHT

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Teleradyo

PDP-Laban

Melvin Matibag

Manny Pacquiao

Halalan 2022

2022 elections

elections

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