MANILA, Philippines — Presidential aspirant Manny Pacquiao cast his vote in Sarangani, confident that the poor will deliver the votes needed to win the presidency.
The standard bearer of PROMDI cast his vote before noon at Kiamba Central Elementary School in Sarangani, the home province of his wife Jinkee.
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Pacquiao said he is confident that he will be victorious in this year’s high-stakes polls, banking on the support of the poor and ordinary folk, as he hit pre-election surveys as “mind conditioning.”
The incumbent senator claimed some 30 million had filled out the housing forms that his camp distributed during the 90-day campaign period. Around 67 million Filipinos are eligible to vote.
“I’m sure majority ng naka-fill up ng forms boboto sa atin kasi nangangarap silang magkaroon ng bahay, matagal na silang nangangarap ng sustainable livelihood,” he said.
(I’m sure the majority of those who filled out the forms will vote for us because they are dreaming of having houses and sustainable livelihoods.)
Pacquiao, a laggard in opinion polls, rose to third place in the latest Pulse Asia survey, with 7%. He overtook Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso whose numbers dropped following the disastrous Easter Sunday press conference.
He, however, is well behind Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., who is leading the opinion poll with 56%
Still, his camp is hopeful that the boxing great will emerge as a “dark horse” in the presidential race and pull off a come-from-behind win.
Pacquiao also he denied skipping the line to vote. “Pumila ako (I lined up),” Pacquiao said, adding no representative lined up on his behalf.
Before he was elected senator, the boxing great-turned-politician was a representative of Sarangani from 2010 to 2016. His younger brother, Ruel, is running for governor in the province.
Pacquiao's running mate, Rep. Lito Atienza (Buhay Partylist), voted at Rafael Palma Elementary School in Manila.