The Philippine boxing world champion Manny Pacquiao has been appointed as the new chairman of the ruling party PDP-Laban by President Rodrigo Duterte. The 41-year-old, who became world champion in eight weight classes and thus set an unbeaten record to this day, was sworn in yesterday evening (local time), as the party announced today. Pacquiao took office about a year and a half before the next presidential election in the Southeast Asian country.
Pacquiao is a folk hero in the Philippines. In addition to his boxing successes, he went into politics in 2010. He has been a senator since 2016. Pacquiao has not yet commented on rumors that he could run for president. After taking over the chairmanship of the party, he announced: „We are here to fight for the poor, the unemployed, the homeless, the voiceless and the hopeless.“
The 75-year-old Duterte, who has served since 2016, is not allowed to run for a second term under the Philippine constitution. Internationally, Duterte is best known for his extremely tough crackdown on drug crime. In the Philippines – a country of over 106 million people – there are enormous social differences.
