JAKARTA – Former boxing star Manny Pacquiao and presidential candidate of the Philippines has convinced voters that he is the best candidate to become the number one person in the country.
Currently Pacquiao still has a low electability in opinion polls. Meanwhile, the current front-runner is Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who is the son of the controversial former dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
This fact makes Pacquiao also question why more people support Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as the leading candidate in the May 9, 2022 election later. “Pacman” then highlights the looting of state wealth during the authoritarian rule of his late father from 1965 to 1986.
"The root of our country's problem is corruption and then we will choose a candidate who has been tainted by corruption? What happened to us as a nation? Where is our intelligence?" Pacquiao said, according to Reuters.
In a recent survey, Pacquiao's electability was only 6 percent. He is far behind the son of a former dictator who has an electability of 56 percent.
Pacman, who currently serves as an incumbent senator, is known to have made the topic of eradicating corruption the centerpiece of his campaign. He even vowed to strengthen efforts to recover the billions of dollars lost since the fall of the Marcos dictatorship in 1986.
The Marcos family is accused of looting about $10 billion during the two decades of rule. The amount was used to spend on jewelry, real estate and works of art including those of Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet.
"Why are we poor? Because we have no money? Wrong. Because of corruption," said Pacquiao.
So far Marcos' camp has not responded to the statement. However, the candidate has previously said he cannot apologize for what his father did.
Apart from highlighting the mega-corruption of former dictator Marcos, Pacquiao also debated with incumbent President Rodrigo Duterte over territorial disputes in the South China Sea. The former world boxing champion said the region would not be disturbed by China if he won the presidency.
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