ISLAMABAD: Philippine Boxing star Manny Pacquiao says he will run for president next year after railing against corruption in government and what he calls President Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s cosy relationship with China.
\nPacquiao, currently a senator, was nominated on Sunday by his PDP-Laban party allies during the group\u2019s national assembly, days after a rival faction nominated Duterte as its choice for vice president and his longtime aide, Senator Christopher \u201cBong\u201d Go, as the party\u2019s presidential candidate.
\nPacquiao, 42, presents a potential obstacle to Duterte\u2019s succession plans as the race for the top post takes shape.
\n\u201cI\u2019m a fighter and will always be a fighter, inside and outside of the ring,\u201d Pacquiao said at the event. \u201cAll my life, I haven\u2019t backed down from any fight. Nothing is impossible if it\u2019s ordained by God.\u201d<\/p>\n
Threat to Duterte
\nPacquiao\u2019s presidential bid is seen by analysts as a threat to Duterte\u2019s candidate in 2022, as the boxer could split the vote in the southern island that both come from, opening the door for opposition figures.
\nGo declined the nomination, but the rift between the Pacquiao and Duterte factions has escalated. The senator ranked fifth among 15 possible presidential candidates in a June survey by Pulse Asia.
\nPacquiao\u2019s faction has not expressed support for Duterte\u2019s vice presidential bid. Duterte is prohibited by the constitution from running for a second six-year term as president.
\nThe eight-division world boxing champion and beloved national hero made the announcement weeks after losing what could be his last professional fight against Cuban Yordenis Ugas in Las Vegas.
\nPacquiao was among the world\u2019s highest-paid athletes in 2019, according to Forbes.
\nThe Filipino boxer has been a senator since 2016 and also served as a congressman. He was once a loyal ally to Duterte, defending the president\u2019s deadly drug war and death penalty push.
\nRecently, however, Pacquiao has criticised the administration for alleged corruption and its South China Sea stance amid a split in the governing party.
\nWe need progress, we need to win against poverty, we need government to serve our people with integrity, compassion and transparency,\u201d Pacquiao said. \u201cWe are fed up with the promises of change.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Moulded by poverty\u2019 ISLAMABAD: Philippine Boxing star Manny Pacquiao says he will run for president next year after railing against corruption in government and what he calls President Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s cosy relationship with China. Pacquiao, currently a senator, was nominated on Sunday by his PDP-Laban party allies during the group\u2019s national assembly, days after a rival faction nominated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,3],"tags":[474,470],"class_list":["post-2388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-world","tag-bangladesh","tag-china"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe 42-year-old is deeply admired in the archipelago nation for his generosity and hauling himself out of poverty to become one of the world\u2019s greatest and wealthiest boxers.
\nHis boxing credentials along with fighting poverty and corruption are likely to be the key themes of his campaign.
\nFor those asking what are my qualifications, have you ever experienced hunger?\u201d Pacquiao asked the national assembly held by the anti-Duterte faction of PDP-Laban.
\nHave you ever experienced having nothing to eat, to borrow money from your neighbours or to wait for leftovers at a food stall? The Manny Pacquiao that is in front of you was moulded by poverty.\u201d
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