Ombion: I told you so about PDP-Laban

IT EITHER degenerates into an elite club or break-up or marginalized.

And it happened last week shortly before PRRD’s Sona. The elite party broke up due to squabble for power.

I was informed that those were involved in the squabbles are not the original PDP-Laban members but the “trapos” from other elite parties who shifted to PDP-Laban after PRRD won.

Now that former president GMA has grabbed the House Speakership, the so-called supermajority Party has broken, and those who did not join GMA split further into two smaller factions. They are now fighting over who should be the legitimate minority bloc.

PDP-Laban is marginalized and will likely be marginalized further into two small factions, the political butterfly PDP and the “original” PDP.

Historically, PDP-Laban was once a respected political party founded by the senior Pimentel, who many times, during martial law and post-Marcos period, stood alongside with known nationalists like Constantino, Tanada, Lichauco, Chino Roces, and other democratic activists on many national issues.

According to my friends who are now seniors in the PDP-Laban, the party has a progressive orientation, rooted among the masa and the middle class, always critical of the oligarchs, advocated Federalism, and had always been waging struggles for the demands and interests of the basic sectors.

This friend, a veteran PDP-Laban in Western Visayas tasked to give political education among the members, said that they wanted to build the PDP-Laban as a mass party of democrats and nationalists; that’s why he stressed that they always require all candidate members to go through pre-membership activities like completing party political education, join party circles, immersion with the basic masses in rural and urban poor areas, undertake organizing and mobilization activities on various social issues.

However, he noted that when PRRD ran under the flagship of PDP-L and took over by then Senate president Koko Pimentel and then House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, the party took a major turnaround, becoming an elitist party of the oligarchs and political dynasties.

The veteran leaders and organizers have been marginalized and taken over by the political brokers and public relations specialists who draw in mass the “trapos,” demagogue politicians, landed and big business oligarchs.

In Negros, PDP-Laban was taken over by old faces and cliques in feudal patronage politics and those who survived through different administrations by betrayals and turncoatism, by sheer expediency.

With the Alvarez-young Pimentel strategy, the PDP-Laban quickly bloated, became a super monster party of old and new oligarchs representing the major political dynasties that ruled most of our provinces.

I'm not surprised that majority or almost all of House members of Negros who shifted to PDP-Laban right at the start of PRRD administration would easily change boat to GMA. Well, it would have been a big surprise had they remained with Alvarez’ PDP Laban. They are simply demagogue, trapo, basahan!

In as far as I know, Atty. Archie Baribar was the official bet of PDP-Laban for Congressional seat in Bacolod. So with Nonoy Elumba who ran and won as councilor under PDP-Laban in La Castellana. But they were practically disowned by the so-called supermajority who installed the notorious political butterflies as heads of PDP-Laban in Negros.

But now things will take a different course. I was informed that the original members and operators of PDP-Laban will not take things lightly. One even told me that they are now regrouping the originals and will rebuild the party to its original political foundations.

This is a big challenge to now GSIS chief Clint Aranas, a Negrense who is also a national official of PDP-Laban and Yves Akol as PDP-Laban Negros secretary-general. They would be standing on a hollow ground should they not rebuild PDP-Laban in Negros, first among the originals and then those who still stand by the PDP-Laban’s principles and agenda among the original Duterte campaigners.

They can also close arm with the much bigger and stronger social formation in Negros and Panay, the Kilusang Pagbabago led by Baribar, whose many members have close ties with PDP-Laban originals, and remain active in their advocacy against illegal drugs, crimes and corruption, federalism and better social services for the people but now into a critical collaboration position vis a vis the ruling administration.

They must take note too that the remnants of the much smaller Duterte group in Negros, the MRRD, is now busy recruiting among Duterte forces and PDP-Laban members, a so-called Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) to boost up their image in Malacanang.

Lessons from many other party experiences including that of PDP-Laban show that a party founded on hollow unity, expediency, and anti-people and anti-democratic programs is bound to implode.

(For feedbacks email ombion.ph@outlook.com)

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