STATEMENT OF LP PRESIDENT SEN. FRANCIS PANGILINAN ON 4 LP MEMBERS MOVING TO PDP-LABAN

May 10, 2017

After the elections, 115 congressmen were voted into office as Liberal Party members. But the attraction and admittedly the benefits of being part of the good graces of Malacanang were hard to resist; thus, the exodus of party members to the fold of the new ruling party. (The departure continues with Reps. Ansaruddin Adiong, Nancy Catamco, Geraldine Roman, and Alfred Vargas. We wish them and all our erstwhile partymates well.)

Then after a brief engagement with the Duterte administration, the decimated Liberal Party has been at the crosshairs of the new regime, leading not only to its ouster from power in the Cabinet and the Senate, but also the detention (on unfounded charges and maneuvered legal process) of LP Senator Leila de Lima.

The new party leadership took over six months ago, and we must admit that the challenges are enormous — both internal and external to the organization and the individual members. We don’t have the resources – time, people, or money — for all the accusations the social media trolls and some government officials have thrown at us.

Since then, the party has been in the process of reflection, reconnecting, and redefining — crucial requisites to rebuilding. In the face of unprovoked, relentless, and baseless attacks against the party and its leaders, these processes are expectedly rough and tough.

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 know about us: generous and forgiving, welcoming and loving, not prone to violence or ruthlessness.