Sixty members of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) including eight mayors and five Vice Mayors in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City resigned from the party, Bacolod City Mayor Albee Benitez said on Monday, May 27.
Benitez said the PDP members met on Saturday, May 25, and signed an irrevocable resignation from the party.
Other local officials who resigned from the party are city and municipal councilors.
"We will just resign in mass, as a group. And we will make a decision in the near future," Benitez said.
He added that as PDP members, they were not even invited to their gatherings and meetings. "So what do you expect? It's not that we did not heed their call but were not invited," Benitez pointed out.
E.B. Magalona Mayor Marvin Malacon confirmed that he is one of eight mayors who resigned from the PDP.
The mass resignation happened following the resignation of the group of Victorias City Vice Mayor Abelardo Bantug Jr. and nine city councilors.
It came after the announcement of lawyer Jesus Hinlo, deputy secretary general of PDP Visayas, that the party is eyeing to field former Victorias City Mayor Francis Frederick Palanca as governor in the 2025 elections against incumbent Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson.
"We will still talk about whether to join the party of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PDP), and where we will be going," Benitez said.
"We resigned as a group and we will make a decision in the near future (for their next political party)," he added.
He added that they will come out with a signed manifesto.
