Philippines: Pacquiao Says He Is Not To Be Counted Out Of Presidential Race

Philippine politician and former boxing star Manny Pacquiao says his impoverished roots make him the best person to be president, as he warned voters to avoid corruption-tainted candidates. 

AccPacquiao questioned why people supported Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the current frontrunner for the May 9 vote, pointing to the plundering of the country’s wealth during the harsh authoritarian rule of his late father and namesake.

Pacquiao is trailing in fourth place on 6% in the latest opinion poll, well behind Marcos, who is leading with 56%

The incumbent senator has made fighting corruption a centrepiece of his campaign, vowing to strengthen efforts to recover billions of dollars missing since the fall of the Marcos dictatorship in 1986, as part his anti-graft platform.

“Why are we in poverty? Because we don’t have money? Wrong. Because of corruption,” Pacquiao said at his campaign headquarters.

Marcos’s camp did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the candidate has previously said he cannot apologise for what his father did.