Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno contradicted on Wednesday President Rodrigo Duterte's statement that the late Senator Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel Jr., who founded PDP-Laban, was not recognized in the city.

"I would view the statement of the President as...it's already political season. It's a bit painful that Nene was dragged here. When he (Duterte) said to Senator (Aquilino) Koko Pimentel (III), that's okay, that's fair game, but for Senator Nene, it's painful," he said in a virtual press briefing in Malacanang.

Moreno said the people in Cagayan de Oro knew what kind of person the old man Pimentel was.

"You know, most of the local leaders who went to Manila as senator focused on local politics because that's their bailiwick. But that was not Senator Nene. When he became senator, he focused on the issues of the country, not on local poltiics," he said.

"So, I'm sure the President did not mean that, perhaps for Senator Koko, I would say Senator Koko can defend himself but not in the case of Senator Nene. But we know deep in our hearts how we love Senator Nene," the mayor stressed.

Duterte earlier said the PDP-Laban was just a father-son party, referring to Nene and Koko, respectively.

He also reminded Koko the PDP-Laban was "asleep for a hundred years" and has only woken up during the 2016 elections when he ran for the presidency under it.

A dispute has occurred among the members of PDP-Laban, creating the faction led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi with Duterte's backing and the faction headed by Senator Manny Pacquiao with Pimentel's support. Celerina Monte/DMS