Philippine political heavyweights are courting boxing idol Manny Pacquiao to win his endorsement for May presidential elections in an effort to cash in on his soaring popularity.
Pacquiao said yesterday he would soon announce which candidate he is backing, but denied reports he was already aligned with Senator Manuel Villar, one of the frontrunners in the presidential race.
“I will announce later what is my [national] party and who is the presidential candidate I am aligning with,” he told reporters in this southern Philippine town at a gathering of his “People’s Champ Movement,” a new local party Pacquiao is starting.
He said he had met Villar in Manila on Friday but denied that he had already joined forces with his Nacionalista Party (NP).
“I did not give any commitment,” he said.
Manila dailies gave front page coverage to reports that Villar was offering to make Pacquiao the official NP candidate for congress in the southern province of Sarangani.
This is despite a longtime alliance between Pacquiao and Philippine President Gloria Arroyo who has endorsed another candidate, ex-defense chief Gilberto Teodoro, as her presidential bet.
In Manila, Arroyo spokesman Cerge Remonde downplayed the speculation, saying “that is between Manny Villar and Manny Pacquiao. We will not interfere in that and we will not complain if this [alliance] happens.”
Villar, a billionaire property developer has been placed second in surveys of contenders for the presidential elections.
Pacquiao, whose boxing victories have made him a national hero, has already said he plans to run for the congress seat in Sarangani.
His popularity soared even further after he demolished Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto last week to become the only man in history to win seven titles in as many weight classes.
One of Pacquiao’s political allies, Juan Domingo, said there was an offer by Arroyo’s ruling Lakas (Strength) party for Pacquiao to join.
However Lakas has already endorsed a member of an established political clan as its candidate for the Sarangani seat, Domingo said.
Despite his fame, Pacquiao lost in his congressional bid in 2007, also to an established politician.
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