Why Manny Pacquiao has chosen UNA over LP
If there is one senatorial candidate who does not need a political party in order to win in the next elections, it is no other than Congressman and Pambansang Kamao, Emmanuel Pacquiao from the sole congressional district of Saranggani. Manny does not need a party for funding. He is the country's richest member of Congress. His net worth is much, much more than the wealth of PNoy and Secretary Mar Roxas. Manny does not need any party to run a campaign. He has millions of followers and fans who are determined to make him number one senator.
Instead of Pacquiao needing a party, it is the party that needs Manny in the line-up. That is why the LP courted him. The group of Grace Poe and Chiz Escudero was trying to entice the boxing champion to run with their team. Even the Duterte camp considered him. But the big winner in such competition is UNA. Manny decided to join Vice President Jejomar Binay because Manny and Jojo are both pro-poor, pro-labor, and pro-human rights. Manny also stressed that he could identify with the vice president because both of them started from scratch. They are both proletarian, although as of now, both of them are billionaires.
Manny Pacquiao cannot identify himself with Mar Roxas, who is an ilustrado, an haciendero, encomiendero, and cacique, scion of some Spanish forefathers, a member of the big landed estate-owning Roxases and the Aranetas. Manny was a son of the working class parents. He was a construction worker and a farmer. His Mommy Dionisia sold vegetables while Mar's mom is Judy Araneta-Roxas, whose family used to own the beautiful Araneta Coliseum. Judy Roxas is a distinguished socialite who belongs to the elite. Manny will be a misfit in the crowd of peninsulares and insulares. He is a Basilio in the midst of Capitan Tiago and Doña Victorina.
Manny Pacquiao can neither be comfortable with Grace Poe because she looks very un-Filipino. She once renounced her Filipino citizenship and became a US citizen. Her husband and children are not Filipino citizens and cannot even vote for Grace. Manny, in his own simple and spontaneous ways, is known as a staunch nationalist. He is loves to always offer his boxing championship for the glory of the Lord, and for the pride of the Filipinos. Manny Pacquiao has a number of mansions and chalets in the US but he has never ever thought of renouncing his Filipino citizenship.
When asked why he chose UNA over the LP, Manny would readily answer that UNA is more tilted towards the working class. Manny does not care about the cases filed against the vice president, He knows that, until and unless the vice president shall have been convicted, if at all, then he, like all of us, is presumed to be innocent until his guilt is proven by competent and admissible evidence beyond reasonable doubt. Manny Pacquiao, although lacking in academic credentials, has the heart for the poor, like Jojo Binay. And he has common sense unlike many bemedalled academic scholars who are ivory tower idealists.
Well, personally, I did not want to vote for a world boxing champion to become a senator of the republic. But better believe me, Manny Pacquiao can even top the 2016 national elections for the 12 seats among the twenty-four senators. Manny will win and he will cause many people to switch to Jojo Binay. That is why the choice of Manny to reject the LP and the Grace and Chiz team, is a major victory for the UNA. It remains to be seen though if that would be victory for the Filipinos.
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