MEMBERS of the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) can also be members of the new Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) party led by President Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter, according to a Palace official.

Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go noted that HNP, or the “Alliance for Change,” is only a regional party. HNP was formed by Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, the President’s outspoken daughter.

Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go

“One can be a member of a regional party like Hugpong ng Pagbabago and at the same time a member of a national party,” said Go, who is the PDP-Laban auditor.

Go and other members of PDP-Laban took their oaths as members of HNP during the regional party’s gathering in Davao City on Friday night, which the President witnessed.

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In his speech, the President said he would endorse candidates to be fielded by HNP, but would still stick with the national party PDP-Laban.

“I can only give my endorsement... Now, if you want, I can help you,” the President said.

No oath for Duterte

President Duterte, chairman of the ruling party PDP-Laban, was reportedly going to take his oath as a member of the regional party. No such thing happened on Friday.

“I do not like to change parties. So I will remain where I am. But you — my advice is you connect with your traditional mother unit,” he told HNP members.

The President described PDP-Laban as a party that was “moribund” before he won because of lack of money. But it was a party with “principles.”

Many local officials in the Davao region bolted their national political parties to join HNP. Some governors in the region left parties like PDP-Laban and the Liberal Party to join the regional party.

HNP has forged alliances with seven regional political parties from different parts of the country and the Nacionalista Party led by Sen. Cynthia Villar, but not with PDP-Laban because of an internal conflict within the ruling party.

PDP-Laban is divided into factions, one led by Sen. Aquilino Pimentel 3rd and the other by Rogelio Garcia.

Garcia’s faction had complained that his group had been marginalized by the more prominent members of the party.

His group also lamented that the Pimentel-led faction violated the party’s rules by holding mass oath-takings of new party members who did not undergo a membership seminar.

The rift between the two factions widened after the Garcia group elected new party officers on July 27.

Also on Friday, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte endorsed the candidacies of nine politicians for the 2019 senatorial elections.

The President’s daughter endorsed Go, Villar, Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr., Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, Rep. Pilar Juliana “Pia” Cayetano, Rep. Zajid Mangudadatu and Bureau of Corrections chief Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa, the former national police chief.