The popular mayor of the Philippine capital yesterday registered his candidacy for the presidency in next year’s elections, promising to ease COVID-19 outbreaks, fix the country’s battered economy and heal deep political divisions.
Manila Mayor Isko Moreno is one of several aspirants in what is expected to be a crowded and politically hostile race to succeed Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
Retired boxing star Philippine Senator Manny Pacquiao filed his certificate of candidacy on Friday, and Duterte’s daughter is among others thought likely to seek the presidency in the May 9 elections.
Photo: AFP
The 46-year-old Moreno, who grew up in Manila’s slums and at one point scavenged for food as a child, is expected to bank on his rags-to-power life story, movie-star looks and widely praised projects in Manila, including restoring order in its chaotic streets and public markets.
However, he is up against formidable politicians and celebrities, including whichever candidate Duterte and his ruling party endorses.
“We are too divisive and indecisive; that caused the stomping of our economy on top of the pandemic,” Moreno told reporters. “My countrymen, give me a chance to heal our country for a bright future.”
Duterte’s successor stands to inherit enormous problems led by the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused the country’s worst economic recession, long-entrenched poverty and decades-long communist and Muslim insurgencies.
The next leader would also take over in a politically charged atmosphere, with Duterte facing a possible array of legal cases arising from his brutal anti-drugs crackdown that has left more than 6,000 mostly petty drug suspects dead.
The International Criminal Court is investigating the killings.
The ailing Duterte, 76, on Saturday announced he was retiring from politics and withdrew from an earlier plan to run as vice president under the ruling PDP-Laban party. That decision opened an option for his daughter, Davao Mayor Sara Duterte, to run for the presidency.
Sara Duterte has said she and her father have agreed that only one Duterte would run for a national office next year. She has registered to run for re-election as mayor, but speculation remains rife that she will decide to seek the presidency.
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