By Leshi Adebayo
Philippine boxing star, Manny Pacquiao, has declared that he will run for president in next year’s election.
The professional boxer was nominated as a candidate by a faction of the ruling party, PDP-Laban. Pacquiao, with a remarkable boxing career, is a senator in the Philippines’ parliament.
Meanwhile, incumbent Rodrigo Duterte, who has been denied another term, has been picked by a rival party faction to run for vice-president. Critics have said it is an attempt to hoard power.
Pacquiao, as a boxer, won world titles in eight different weight divisions — a record set by him alone so far. In his recent bout, he lost against a Cuban opponent and said he was considering retiring.
Accepting the presidential nomination, he said, “I am a fighter, and I will always be a fighter inside and outside the ring.” He has pledged to campaign against poverty and corruption.
The boxer-turned-politician is a popular figure in his home country but faces an uphill battle, trailing in opinion polls consistently topped by Sara Duterte-Carpio. It is not clear yet which of the PDP-laban factions will be recognised by the country’s electoral commission for the 2022 election.
