SENATOR Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III on Friday, August 3, said that the group who held an assembly in Quezon City where they ousted PDP-Laban leaders including Pimentel was just an "insignificant force" and maintained that there are no internal dispute inside the ruling party.
During his visit to Cagayan de Oro on Friday, Pimentel said a dialogue was held among its members and assured that the party is in place.
"Naay grupo na naglihok lain (There are other group who are behind this) and they were not even members of PDP laban so why should we count it as a party event," he said.
Last week, a faction of the ruling party emerged and claimed to be the genuine representatives of the PDP-Laban.
Pimentel said they will pursue a case against these people for the damage they have caused to PDP-Laban.
"We are studying kung unsa posible nga kaso, damage sa ngalan sa partido (We are studying what case to file, for the damage they've done to the name of the party), kay gigamit ang name sa party na walay authorization (they used the party's name without authorization)," he said.
Pimentel also clarified that Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte's Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) party has no effect to the PDP-Laban local chapters.
"HNP is a regional party, so sa gawas sa region 11, dili kini makahatag sa certificate of nomination, regional party lang sila, kana ag problema kay naay mga pulitiko na gusto nila modagan ubos sa HNP pero kung dili sila taga region 11 walay reason or basehan na makadagan sila (they cannot give certificate of nomination to politicians who plan to run under their party, but are not from region 11)," he said.
"Kita sa region 10, sa Cagayan de Oro, dili ka makadagan kay ang certificate of nomination sa HNP region 11 man (Here in region 10, in Cagayan de Oro, you can't run under their party because the HNP only covers region 11)," he said.