The Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP), which core group is composed of supporters of former president Rodrigo Duterte, respects the decision of 60 Negros Occidental and Bacolod City officials who have irrevocably resigned from the party, Jesus V. Hinlo Jr., PDP deputy secretary general for Visayas, said on Wednesday, May 29.
“As to the PDP members of Negros Occidental who resigned, we respect and accept their decision. We wish them well as we continue our own advocacies and remain with PDP,” Hinlo, who is also PDP Negros Occidental Provincial Council president, said.
Duterte is the PDP national chairman.
Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez announced on Monday that about 60 members of PDP Laban in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City signed their irrevocable resignations from the party on Saturday.
Benitez said he and seven other mayors, five vice mayors and councilors resigned and are set to issue a manifesto.
As PDP members they were not even invited to any of the party’s gatherings and meetings, Benitez, who was PDP Laban chairman of Negros in the last election, said.
Hinlo said he has not received copies of the resignations yet, he only learned about the mass resignations through the media.
“Those who resigned are not with the group that I have established… The volunteers who form the core group of the active PDP today are with me,” Hinlo said.
They are not the original campaigners of former president Duterte, in 2014 to 2016 they only had two Negros officials supporting him – former mayors Magdaleno Peña of Moses Padilla and Jose Max Ortiz of Salvador Benedicto, he said.
Those who resigned only joined the party when Duterte became president, Hinlo said.
“We wish them the best in their plans but the Duterte supporters with my group are intact and will expand,” he said.
PDP is just being quiet but recruitment is ongoing, he said.
Don Salvador Benedicto Mayor Marxlen de la Cruz said they resigned from PDP Laban because most of the members of their group were no longer comfortable with the party.
They want to remain in support of the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., he said.
Although he said the decision on which national party they will align with has yet to be decided, he said.
PALANCA UNDECIDED
Earlier Victorias City Vice Mayor Abelardo D. Bantug III and nine councilors also resigned from the PDP after Hinlo said their party was considering fielding former Victorias mayor Francis Frederick “Wantan” Palanca to run as the PDP gubernatorial bet of Negros Occidental in 2025.
The majority of the PDP-Laban members in Negros belong to the United Negros Alliance-Love Negros coalition that is supporting the reelection bid of Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson in 2025.
No consultation was done by the PDP group headed by Hinlo when he announced the possibility of their fielding Palanca, the PDP members said.
Palanca has not decided to run for governor yet as he is conducting consultations and praying about it, Hinlo said on Wednesday.*