FORMER President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Wednesday took her oath as new member of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan.
PDP-Laban secretary- general and Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, with House Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas by his side, administered the oath to Arroyo and Bohol Rep. Arthur Yap—who both belonged to the then ruling Lakas Christian Muslim Democrats.
Yap served as National Food Authority head and Agriculture secretary—both under the Arroyo administration.
Arroyo, in a statement, said: “My joining the PDP-Laban is to consolidate support for the President. It is a matter of course as we have been talking about this for quite sometime.”
Arroyo is the chairman emeritus of the political party which also emerged as an opposition during the past administration.
She was stripped of her post as deputy speaker for Central Luzon last March for opposing the death penalty bill.
Nasser Pangandaman, who served as Agrarian Reform secretary during the Arroyo administration, also joined the PDP-Laban.
Camiguin Rep. Xavier Jesus Romualdo, vice chairperson of the House committee on energy, and on trade and industry, also was an addition to the PDP-Laban, comprising a total of 124 members at present.
Romualdo was among those lawmakers in the 16th Congress who supported the presidential candidacy of Manuel Roxas. After which, Romualdo joined the Lakas-CMD.
Arroyo’s counsel, lawyer Raul Lambino, also took his oath before Alvarez and Fariñas as new PDP-Laban member.