Sen. Manny Pacquiao has a right to run for president in the 2022 national elections, but the legitimacy of his candidacy remains up in the air, the Palace said on Monday.

Pacquiao accepted the nomination of his PDP-Laban faction to be its standard-bearer in 2022 during its national assembly on Sunday.

Since the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has yet to rule which PDP-Laban faction would be recognized as legitimate, Palace spokesman Harry Roque said Pacquiao’s presidential bid remained unsettled.

“Karapatan niyang tumakbo sa eleksyon. Hindi ko lang po alam kung ano ang magiging desisyon ng Comelec kung sino talaga ang pupuwedeng magdala ng pangalan ng PDP-Laban,” Roque said in a Palace briefing.

To recall, the ruling party was recently split into two factions: one headed by Pacquiao and the other by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi.

The Cusi-led faction has nominated Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go and President Rodrigo Duterte as its standard-bearer and vice presidential bet in the 2022 polls.

Go declined the nomination, but Duterte has declared his intention to run for vice president, claiming he wanted to continue his programs beyond his presidency. John Ezekiel J. Hirro