SEN. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Wednesday night relinquished the presidency of the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Laban ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) to Sen. Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao, who has been tasked to prepare the party for the 2022 national and local elections.
Pacquiao formally accepted the post vacated by Pimentel during a hybrid fellowship night at the Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in Bataan.
President Duterete is the party’s national chairman while Pimentel is now the executive vice chairman, replacing Department of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi.
Speaker Lord Allan Velasco was named the party’s executive vice president, replacing Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales.
PDP-Laban presently has five senators, 58 congressmen, 43 governors, 22 vice governors, 257 board members, 608 mayors, 541 vice mayors, 4,801 councilors, and more than 100,000 grassroots community leaders on its roster.
Ron Munsayac, PDP-Laban executive director, said Pimentel passed on the “practical day-to-day leadership of the party to one with new, ‘modern’ ideas and who has time, energy, and boldness to prepare the party for the 2022 national and local elections.”
Munsayac added that Pimentel, the former Senate president, relinquished the leadership so he can help strengthen the party and help push for Duterte’s legislative agenda.
PDP-Laban members are confident their party will remain the dominant political party even after 2022.
Pacquiao vowed to further strengthen the party while upholding its guiding principles — against atheism, authentic humanism, enlightened nationalism, democratic socialism, and consultative participatory democracy.
Pacquiao enjoined his partymates to heed Duterte’s call for a more aggressive stance against corruption.
