PDP extends deadline to deal with influx of new members

FILE: “We decided to extend the recruitment deadline to give our countrymen the chance to be a part of PDP Laban and the Change it advocates,” Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said in a press statement. (Photo: By Albert Calvelo – Public Relation and Information Bureau (original here), Senate of the Philippines, Public Domain)

MANILA — The ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP Laban) will extend the deadline for accepting new members into the party to the end of February 2018 following an “overwhelming” number of applicants.

“We decided to extend the recruitment deadline to give our countrymen the chance to be a part of PDP Laban and the Change it advocates,” Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said in a press statement.

Pimentel said that the party leadership made this decision since he thought it unjust to arbitrarily close the application when applications remain unacted upon.

It may be recalled that the party earlier announced that it will stop accepting new members by the end of November of the current year.

However, Pimentel explained that despite the extension, the plan to consolidate the party’s gains in time for the 2019 midterm elections remains.

“We have to deal with the influx of new members and ensure everyone in the party is aware of our ideals, goals, and values. 2019 will be an issue-based election, not a personality contest,” Pimentel said.

Pimentel said the grassroots recruitment of PDP Laban is intended to effect change in the country’s political system, like the shift to a federal system of government.