Senator Pangilinan quits as LP president

Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Tue, 21 May 2019 08:50:21 +0000

 

 

SENATOR PANGILINAN

Senator Francis Pangilinan hand­ed yesterday his letter of resigna­tion as president of the 73-year-old Liberal Party (LP) to LP chairperson Vice President Leni Robredo.

Pangilinan made the “surprise’’ move after taking full responsibil­ity for the results of the national elections which saw the opposition eight-member “Otso Diretso’’ slate suffer a complete shutout.

“As campaign manager for the Otso Diretso slate, I was unable to ensure our victory in the elec­tions and I therefore assume full responsibility for the outcome and hold myself primarily accountable for this defeat and have tendered my resignation as president of the LP effective June 30, 2019,” Pang­ilinan said in a press statement.

However, Vice President Leni Ro­bredo rejected the resignation of Pangilinan and that of Rep. Kit Bel­monte as party secretary-general.

Vice presidential spokesperson Barry Gutierrez said Robredo did not accept the resignations.

“The VP has not accepted Sena­tor Kiko’s and Cong Kit’s resigna­tions. Much work remains to be done, and they will do it, together,” Gutierrez said.

On the other hand, Senate Mi­nority Leader and LP Vice Chair­man Franklin Drilon said that ‘’we are deeply saddened by his resig­nation as our party president.’’

‘’We did not expect it, especially in times like this when we need a steady hand to lead the party alongside Vice President Leni Ro­bredo,’’ Drilon said.

Drilon said the Filipino people witnessed how Senator Pangilinan worked very hard and diligently to campaign for Otso Diretso candi­dates.

‘’Unfortunately, we lost,’’ he add­ed. (With report from Raymund Antonio)

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