Filipino boxing superstar and senator Manny Pacquiao will run for president in the 2022 national elections.
Pacquiao accepted the nomination of his PDP-Laban faction to be its standard-bearer in 2022 during its national assembly on Sunday.
“I am a fighter, and I will always be a fighter inside and outside the ring,” Pacquiao said.
“Sa mga kababayan natin na matagal nang naghahangad ng tamang pagbabago sa ating pamahalaan, tapat na panunungkulan at serbisyo sa mamamayang Pilipino, buong puso ko po, buong tapang at kababaang loob ay umaasa po ako sa inyong suporta,” he added.
The other PDP-Laban faction, led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, nominated Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go and President Rodrigo Duterte as its standard-bearer and vice presidential bet in the 2022 polls.
Go declined the nomination, but Duterte has declared his intention to run for vice president, claiming he wanted to continue his programs beyond his presidency.
The Commission on Elections has yet to rule what PDP-Laban faction would be recognized as legitimate.
Pacquiao, who has been feuding with Duterte over corruption within the administration, became a senator in 2016. John Ezekiel J. Hirro