The Commission on Election (Comelec) on Friday affirmed the ruling of its second division which declared the wing of the former Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi as the "true and official" representatives of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).
In a press briefer, Comelec said its en banc junked the motion filed by former senator Manny Pacquiao and Senate Minority leader Aquilino 'Koko' Pimentel III to revise its earlier ruling.
"On the issue of jurisdiction, the en banc Resolution stated that the COMELEC was correct when it took cognizance of the petition filed by PDP-LABAN represented by Cusi and Matiag and referred the same to the COMELEC Special Second Division," it said.
In regards to the issue of legal standing, the poll body said Cusi's wing being members of the political party "have standing to file the petition", adding that they have "personal and substantial interest in the case which involves intra-party controversy, particularly issues on party leadership and legitimacy of acts of party members."
"As to the rest of the arguments in the MR, the en banc did not find novel issues to be tackled and found no cogent reason to disturb the decision of the COMELEC Special Second Division," the Comelec said.
It can be recalled that in September 2021, the faction of Cusi filed a petition pleading to declare Pimentel's wing as illegal representatives of PDP-Laban.
Several days before the local and national election in May 2022, the Comelec Second division issued a decision that acknowledged Cusi as the president and former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte as the chairman of the party.
Pimentel, the son of PDP-Laban's founder Aquilino 'Nene' Pimentel, appealed to revise the decision and asked to declare their wing as the official one.
