If Cong. Edgar Chatto wants to expel us, we dare him to go ahead. This was the challenge issued by the Lakas faction that has openly rejected Chatto as gubernatorial candidate. The challenge was issued in a statement entitled “Who Will Be The Next Victim” signed by the 14 Lakas members in reaction to reports that Chatto and his faction have asked the national Lakas directorate to expel them. The group, however, stressed that they are entitled to due process. “If we are guilty as charged, why is he afraid to give us a fair trial?” they asked. The group in turn said they would also exercise their right to similarly file their complaints against him. “We will ask him to explain why his candidates, like Secretary Gibo Teodoro, Edu Manzano, Board Member Conching Lim, Mayor Baby Cajes and Vice Mayor Toto Veloso are faring poorly in surveys while he is on top,” they added.

The hard-hitting statement said that finally they have the answer to the question most people are asking: what is the problem of Lakas-Bohol. “The answer goes by the name of Cong. Edgardo Chatto,” they added. The signatories said they have confirmed what they suspected all along – “a kangaroo court is in place in Lakas-Bohol courtesy of Cong. Chatto”. “All of us who do not enjoy his blessings have been accused, tried and sentenced. Just like that,” the statement said. Saying that Chatto conveniently sidesteps the most obvious questions, the statement said that to this day, the Lakas gubernatorial candidate cannot show proof of any communication, meeting or any activity that deliberated on the coalition with the Laban nga Demokratikong Pilipinos (LDP) and the Lakas choice for the first district congressional candidate. “Of course, there is nothing to show because there was none,” they added.

Instead, they said the kangaroo court simply pieced together allegations and suspicions of disloyalty against those who are not in their faction to justify the “instant Lakas coalition with the LDP” and the choice of Relampagos as congressional bet. They said the kangaroo court was also behind the revocation of the certificate of nomination and acceptance (Cona) to Gov. Erico Aumentado. The statement said Chatto's group merely conjured a “grand scheme of fielding two slates”. The group asked why they did not convene the party, announce the alleged scheme and conduct a fair trial where all the parties, both accusers and accused, can present arguments and show proofs if they are so sure of the existence of such a scheme. “Instead, no such trial took place because the Kangaroo Court had already arrived at a decision to just stab Gov. Aumentado in the back,” they added.

In the case of the second district mayors, the group said that like in the Salinas and Aumentado experience, Chatto's faction simply raised accusations, “tried them in absentia without their knowledge and summarily sentenced them with virtual expulsion.” “No one knew about these allegations against the parties concerned until we dared to speak out,” they noted. They said that after the treachery, betrayal and deception employed against them Chatto's group now wants them to just suffer in silence. “The moment we spoke out, we are demonized. Is this what has become of the Lakas in just a few months after the take-over of Cong. Chatto?” they asked. The statement also pointed to Chatto's alleged inconsistencies in Chatto's stance. “First, he did not know anything about them. Now, he tells the victims they deserved it because they were unfaithful to the Party,” they added.

The statement said Chatto was either lying when he said he didn't know about it or he is lying when he said they betrayed the Party. “Cong. Chatto can say what he wants but either way he has not been honest,” they claimed. The group also dared Chatto to categorically respond to reports that his group is negotiating with the Liberal Party of Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III for a mass defection. “Only time will tell if it is true, but if it is, then all this is merely a prelude to that grand sell-out of Secretary Gibo Teodoro and the Lakas candidates. This is shameful opportunism,” the statement added. Aside from this, the group said they also want Chatto to answer why he has accommodated the LDP, PDP-Laban and the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino to boost his gubernatorial campaign. “Finally, we want him to tell the truth about his negotiations with the LP through Sen. Kiko Pangilinan. We dare him to publicly make a categorical statement either to confirm or deny this once and for all,” they added. They also reiterated their position that they will no longer support Chatto for governor, saying there is no question about that. “The question which should be on everybody's mind is this: who will be the next victim of the Kangaroo Court of Cong. Chatto?” they asked.