Senator Aquilino Pimentel III and President Rodrigo Duterte (FILE PHOTO)

Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesperson James Jimenez recently said the leadership dispute in the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) could drag on until 2022.

Jimenez admitted that there is a high likelihood that the conflict won’t be settled by the Comelec with finality. Whatever the decision of the election body on the matter, it’s almost a sure bet that someone will take it to the Supreme Court. In which case, the issue won’t be finished even if we have resolved it.

“We might have some clarity on the Comelec side. But I don’t think the issue will be finally done with,” he added.

Given the possibility of the issue reaching the Supreme Court, Jimenez said it won’t be impossible for the issue to drag on until after 2021.

“I expect that by the end of this year, we might not have clarity on this issue yet,” said Jimenez.

There are two factions within the party.

The faction led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi as president has President Rodrigo Duterte as chairman and vice presidential bet as well as Senator Christopher Go, Duterte’s former long-time aide, as presidential bet.

The faction led by Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, son of PDP-Laban co-founder Aquilino Pimentel Jr., ousted Duterte as chairman recently. This group is pushing for Senator Emmanuel Pacquiao as presidential candidate.

Each camp has submitted a Sworn Information Update Statement (SIUS) with the Comelec as required by the poll body ahead of the May 2022 elections.

The Comelec is mandated to resolve intra-party intramurals under existing rules.

According to Jimenez, the commission will strictly scrutinize the constitution and by-laws as well as other documents to be submitted by both camps.

He said they will also look into the series of events leading up to the leadership dispute.

“Once we see that one camp failed to follow the correct procedures and went ahead nonetheless, that will be used as a basis in deciding,” said Jimenez.