Senator and boxer Manny Pacquiao has announced that he will run for the post of president of Philippines in 2022. He has said that he has accepted the nomination by his party the PDP-Laban faction at its National Convention that was held on Sunday. He said that the people in his country were waiting for change. He is the president of the faction that he leads along with Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III.
The 42-year-old iconic boxer said in a live streamed speech that he was a fighter and that he would always be a fighter insider and outside the ring. He said, “I am accepting your nomination as candidate for president of the Republic of Philippines.”
He also said that the country needed a government that would serve their people with integrity, compassion, and transparency. He had accused President Duterte, who is a former ally, of making corruption worse in the country and also warned that all the politicians who supported corruption would end up in jail.
President Duterte cannot run for presidency again as per the constitution in the country. A fraction of his party had nominated him as Vice President, and he accepted the nomination. The party also nominated one of his associates and his former aide Senator Bong Go for president. However, Go had declined the nomination.
The rival faction of the same party, which supports the current president as its leader said that it will petition the Commission on Elections to say that Pacquiao and his allies were not legitimate officers of the party, which is currently in power.
Manny Pacquiao is a legendary boxer and the only man who has held world titles in eight divisions. However, he is trailing in popularity politically. Opinion polls put Sara Duterte-Carpio as the favorite although she has given no indications about her future plans and has stayed away from the drama within the factions of the same PDP-Laban party.
