Pacquiao vows PDP-Laban would fight for marginalized; still praying for 2022 election plans

Senator Manny Pacquiao has promised that the administration party PDP-Laban would take a strong stance against corruption and take the cudgels for the marginalized as he sits as its president.

“We are not beholden to big businesses, foreign entities, nor vested interests, but only to the Filipino people. We are here to fight for the poor, the jobless, the homeless, the voiceless, and the hopeless. This is what the PDP-Laban under Manny Pacquiao will stand for,” Pacquiao said in a speech during the PDP-Laban Fellowship Night on Wednesday.

“Galit na galit ako sa mga (corrupt) na mga opisyal pati na rin sa mga (corrupt) na government workers. Sila ang nagnanakaw ng pera ng bayan, pera na dapat ay para sa mga programa at proyekto na makakatulong sa ating mga naghihirap na kababayan,” he said, emphasizing Duterte's call to fight corruption.

PDP-Laban is currently chaired by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Pacquiao's predecessor, Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel, is confident that he has relinquished his post to a leader "who has the time, energy, and boldness to prepare the party for the 2022 national and local elections."

Pimentel said he would focus working in the background to further strengthen the party and on helping push for President Duterte’s legislative agenda.

Meanwhile, Speaker Lord Allan Velasco was named as the party's new executive vice president, replacing Pampanga Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales.

Pressed to comment if the new role of Pacquiao in PDP-Laban would mean he would also run for a higher position in the upcoming 2022 elections, Pacquiao's special assistant Jake Joson said: "Ipinagdadasal pa ni Sen. MP ang mga plano niya para sa 2022. Sa ngayon, ang kaniyang priority eh kung paano makatulong sa ating mga kababayan, lalo na sa mga naging biktima ng bagyo."

Last June, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said boxer-turned-senator Pacquiao had plans to run for president in 2022.

"The first president I think we’ll get as a fighter is little Manny Pacquiao, who told me, once again, I did a Zoom telephone call with him, ‘Bob, I’m gonna run in 2022 and, when I win, I want you there at my inauguration,'” he said.

Pacquiao, 41, will end his first term as senator in 2022 after winning a Senate seat in the 2016 elections.

In 2016, Duterte said he thinks Pacquaio would become president.

The PDP-Laban is currently composed of five senators, 58 congressmen, 43 governors, 22 vice governors, 257 board members, 608 mayors, 541 vice mayors, 4,081 councilors, and 100,000 grassroots community leaders.—AOL, GMA News