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BY PRINCE GOLEZ
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Friday, May 12, 2017
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MANILA – Liberal Party (LP) president Francis Pangilinan admitted that being part of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino – Lakas ng Bayan led by President Rodrigo Duterte is too attractive for some lawmakers.
And the Duterte presidency forced the LP — the former ruling party — into a “rough and tough” terrain, Pangilinan stressed.
Pangilinan made the statement in light of the transfer of LP representatives Ansaruddin Adiong, Nancy Catamco, Geraldine Roman, Alfred Vargas, and Winston Castelo to the ruling party.
“After the elections, 115 congressmen were voted into office as [LP] members,” he said. “But the attraction and, admittedly, the benefits of being part of the good graces of Malacañang were hard to resist; thus, the exodus of party members to the fold of the new ruling party.”
Pangilinan blamed the Duterte presidency for the ouster of several lawmakers from their committee chairmanships and the arrest and detention of Sen. Leila de Lima, a fierce critic of the chief executive.
The LP no longer has the resources — time, people and money — to defend itself against the allegations thrown against it, he said.
“The party has been in the process of reflection, reconnecting and redefining — crucial requisites to rebuilding,” said Pangilinan. “In the face of unprovoked, relentless and baseless attacks against the party and its leaders, these processes are expectedly rough and tough.”
But Pangilinan vowed to face these challenges headstrong.
“After six months in the LP leadership, we soldier on, taking on the challenges and holding on only to this: that we as a people are what the rest of the world knows about us — generous and forgiving, welcoming and loving, not prone to violence or ruthlessness.”/PN
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