SENATOR Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III has replaced President Rodrigo Duterte as chairman of the Partido Demokatriko Pilipino Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) national council in a meeting held Sunday afternoon, August 29, 2021.

In a statement read over the radio, PDP-Laban executive director Ron Munsayac said the “original PDP-Laban” convened at 2 p.m. Sunday, with Pimentel, national committee chairmen, national and regional officers, and Senator Emmanuel Pacquiao, who was on his way home from a boxing bout in the United States.

“The PDP-Laban national council elected Sen. Koko Pimentel as its chairman and former governor Lutgardo Barbo as vice chairman,” he said.

A few days earlier on August 25, Pimentel said the dispute within the ruling party is internal.

“Our internal dispute has been caused by someone from the inside. That an outsider is being considered as the presidential candidate by an insider is not the fault of the person being mentioned but the fault of the insider who lacks faith, confidence, and loyalty to his Party and the talent and skills of the party members,” he said.

The faction led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi is expected to nominate Senator Christopher Go, Duterte’s former aide, as the party’s standard bearer during the May 2022 elections.

The Cusi faction earlier said Duterte has agreed to run as vice president under PDP-Laban.

The Pimentel faction, meanwhile, has said that it will nominate Pacquiao as presidential bet. Pimentel is the son of the late former senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr., one of the founders of PDP-Laban.

The nominations will be officially made during the party's national convention on September 8, 2021.

The Commission on Elections said it has yet to decide which faction to recognize for the May 2022 elections. (Marites Villamor-Ilano / SunStar Philippines)