MANILA, Philippines – Boxer-turned-politician Manny Pacquiao is seeking to return to the Senate after officially filing his certificate of candidacy on Monday, October 7.

Pacquiao, who once criticized the Marcos family over martial law and corruption, is now part of the Senate slate endorsed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

He was first elected as senator in 2016, when he ran under former president Rodrigo Duterte’s Partido Demokratiko Pilipino. He then criticized Duterte over the former president’s “lacking” response to Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea.

In 2022, he ran for president but lost to Marcos. When campaigning in Marcos Jr.’s own bailiwick, the so-called Solid North, Pacquiao said that “only those who are stupid would vote for a thief.”

In his fresh bid for the Senate, Pacquiao vowed to fight corruption, as he defended the Marcos family over corruption issues.

“Palagi nating sinisisi ang pamilya Marcos pagdating sa korupsiyon. ‘Di ba natin nakikita na sa panahon ni Marcos Sr., ang bansa natin ay Number 1 sa ekonomiya?” Pacquiao said, glossing over the fact that the family’s plunder led to the establishment of the Presidential Commission on Good Government, an agency dedicated to pursuing the Marcoses’ ill-gotten wealth.

(We always blame the Marcos family when it comes to corruption. Don’t we see that during the time of Marcos Sr., our state of the country’s economy was was Number 1?)

During his first term as senator, Pacquiao had the lowest attendance record in the third and final session of the 17th Congress, according to data from the Senate. Out of 61 plenary sessions held from July 23, 2018, to June 4, 2019, he attended 49 sessions and incurred 12 absences, as reported by the Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau.

In 2016, Pacquiao ranked 7th in the senatorial race, with 16,050,546 votes. In the Pulse Asia survey held in September 2024, he is projected to land the 8th to 11th spot if the the 2025 senatorial elections were held at the time of the poll. – Rappler.com