MANILA, Philippines – Former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has jumped on the bandwagon and joined the administration party, PDP-Laban.
In a statement coinciding with her oath-taking as party member, Arroyo said: “My joining the PDP-Laban is to consolidate support for the President. It is a matter of course as we have been talking about this for quite sometime.”
Arroyo took her oath before Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, the party secretary general, and Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas, on Wednesday, October 11 together with Bohol Rep. Art Yap, Camiguin Rep. Xavier Jesus Romualdo; Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) head Raul Lambino, and former Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman.
Arroyo left Lakas-CMD, her political party for years. Yap came from the Nationalist People’s Coalition, while Romualdo also left Lakas. He joined Lakas only in February this year and previous to that was a member of the Liberal Party.
Arroyo, who was president for nine year, is serving her third and last term in Congress.
In an earlier news conference, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said only PDP-Laban members and those from the Nacionalista Party can join the administration slate in the 2019 senatorial race.
Thousands of elected officials have jumped to the ruling party of President Rodrigo Duterte since he assumed office last year.
In August, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel officiated the oath taking of 35,000 new members from Masbate. Last month, 9,000 local officials from Negros Occidental also joined the party.