Barug Team Rama mulls joining Sara Duterte’s party

THE opposition United Barug Team Rama (formerly Barug Team Rama-PDP Laban) may join Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte – Carpio’s Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) if their group will agreeto it.

Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgar Labella, who is a member of Barug, claimed that some individuals affiliated with HNP had started sending invites to some of their group’s members.

“There are some personalities reaching out to members of the party but it’s not directly from the good mayor of Davao City,” said Labella.

“But the group has to be consulted. It has to be a consensus. I’m always consultative. But I don’t think there’s anything wrong (on joining it),” he added.

Barug is presently allied with PDP – Laban, and Labella leads the PDP-Laban Cebu City Chapter.

However, PDP – Laban and HNP are currently at odds with each other after the former party’s secretary-general, ousted House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, engaged in a verbal tussle with Duterte-Carpio.

The “well-documented” verbal war between the two politicians developed after Alvarez reportedly tagged the presidential daughter as one of the oppositions for forming HNP.

But things are now in a quandary after Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque announced on Monday that President Rodrigo Duterte is with HNP.

At a press briefing in Davao Occidental where he took his oath as party member, Roque said, the President had told him that Hugpong had always been his political party ever since he ran for mayor of Davao City 23 years ago.

Roque, along with Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go, also joined the party.

Albeit admitting that he is not yet aware on the recent developments, Labella, however, assured that members of PDP – Laban have nothing to worry about.

“We’re still allied with the President,” explained Labella.

On the other hand, he said their group had yet to decide between him and former Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama for the one to challenge incumbent Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña in the coming May 2019 elections.

“As we’ve said before, we will make the announcement in due time, before the deadline of the filing of COC (certificate of candidacy) this October,” Labella said.