Davao del Norte Representative Pantaleon Alvarez on Sunday announced his “irrevocable resignation” from Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) party.
Alvarez was a former House Speaker and served as the party’s secretary-general for nearly five years.
Alvarez said he resigned from PDP-Laban because he wants to commit and pursue a campaign in educating Filipino voters, given the importance of the 2022 elections.
“Unfortunately, serving as a ranking officer and member of PDP-Laban while simultaneously handling this advocacy may be misconstrued by critics as politicking by the party presently in power,” the House representative said.
Meanwhile, Alvarez accepted former secretary Renato de Villa’s offer to lead and revive Reporma, a non-mainstream Party not affiliated with any personality seeking the Presidency.
“This way, the voter’s education campaign can proceed and rightly be perceived as politically neutral without risking possible backlash against PDP-Laban,” he said.
Pantaleon Alvarez also thanked PDP-Laban President Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III for trusting him to serve as secretary-general of the Party for almost half a decade.
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Pantaleon Alvarez resigns from Duterte’s PDP-Laban
“Inspired by the example of Tatay Nene Pimentel, this is an issue that Rep. Alvarez, along with PDP-Laban, has likewise championed throughout his life especially since he is also a probinsyano who experienced the neglect felt by Filipinos living in provinces far away from Manila,” he said.
Alvarez served as House Speaker during the first and second regular sessions of the 17th Congress from 2016 to 2018.
A surprise d’etat staged by House members in President Rodrigo Duterte’s third State of the Nation Address in July 2018 removed Alvarez from his post. Former president and then-Pampanga representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo replaced Alvarez at the time.
Alvarez was a long-time friend of President Rodrigo Duterte. However, the President said in October 2018 that his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, had a hand in Alvarez’s ouster.
Mayor Sara had previously been vocal with her feud against Alvarez.
The Davao del Norte Representative Pantaleon Alvarez had also made rounds on national media after he said in a local radio interview that the administration’s COVID-19 pandemic response “is a failure.”