Senate President President Aquilino Pimentel III on Sunday said candidates who will not support efforts to shift to a federal form of government will not be entertained by the ruling party PDP-Laban as candidates under its banner for the 2019 mid-term elections.
Federalism, he said, is one of the guiding principles of the ruling party, which now has more than 300,000 members across the country.
“You cannot be a member of PDP-Laban, much less a candidate of the party, and not support one of its core tenets,” said Pimentel, who is also the president of the ruling party.
Pimentel said the prospective candidates must support the programs of the party chairman, President Rodrigo Duterte, until the end of his term.
Pimentel added the party is open to considering non-PDP members, provided they are supportive of federalism and the President even as party members will be prioritized in the selection process.
In a recent show of force, some 30,000 new party members took their oath in Bulacan before top officials of PDP Laban at the Malolos Sports and Convention Center, a far cry from the earliest oathtaking ceremonies of the party which were usually held under the shade of banana trees.