GOVERNMENT Service Insurance System president Clint Aranas, provincial president of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) in Negros Occidental, said the party will have a meeting on Thursday, August 2, to thresh out the squabbling among party leaders and members following the order of President Rodrigo Duterte, party chairman.
Aranas said that during the meeting on Thursday, he will also seek clarification about his mandate as provincial president of the party.
Based on the invitation he received from Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, party president, the meeting will be held 11 a.m. at Seda Virtes North in Quezon City.
He said he does not want to pre-empt the negotiation as the president wants all factions to be threshed out and to unify PDP-Laban. "Hopefully we can move forward from there," he added.
When asked about the party's local candidates for the 2019 elections, Aranas said: "I want to clarify first my mandate as the provincial president of the party. We will choose those who truly love Negros by asking them what they can do for Negros."
The faction wanted to oust Pimentel and former house speaker Pantaleon Alvarez as the party's secretary-general.
Aranas said he will issue a further statement after the meeting on Thursday.
Provincial officials led by Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. and Third District Representative Alfredo Benitez have joined PDP-Laban after Duterte won the presidency in 2016.
