Senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao said his campaign will focus on communicating his message to the poorest Filipinos amid the raging “drone wars,” a common term for remotely controlled unmanned aerial photography tools used by presidential candidates.
“I know Manny Pacquiao supporters, I am allied with the D-E class and those who are impoverished and only hope for a better life. They are the people we are fighting for. At the end of the day, Manny Pacquiao is for those who do not have their own homes or livelihood. That is why we go to areas that are remote and where there are lots of poor people,” Pacquiao said in a press briefing after a visit to the districts of San Andres and Tondo, Manila on Monday.
If elected president, Pacquiao said his top priority is to provide a modest but decent house for all Filipino families who are homeless or do not live in their own houses.
The senator’s entourage is scheduled to conduct motorcades on Tuesday in Quezon City areas.
Pacquiao meanwhile on Tuesday said that with President Duterte’s signing of the Public Service Act, telecommunications service providers should improve the quality of their products as international tech giants like Space X owned by tech multi-billionaire Elon Musk are showing interest in the country’s internet technology and telecommunications market.
In his meeting Tuesday with senior Space X executives at the Shangrila Hotel, Bonifacio Global City, Pacquiao said that foreign telcos like Space X’s Starlink are now allowed to enter the Philippine IT market without requiring a Filipino partnership with the passage of the Republic Act (RA) No. 11659 or the Public Service Act.
The law which amended Commonwealth Act No. 146 classifies telecommunications, railways, expressways, airports, and shipping industries as public services, thereby allowing up to 100 percent foreign ownership in these sectors.
Pacquiao was accompanied by Senator Koko Pimentel who is also the chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
Present during the meeting is Space X Senior manager for foreign relations Rebecca Hunter, and Philippine representative Ramon Garcia.
Tne boxing chamo said he does not have doubt that the entry of Space X into the Philippines would be a major game-changer, especially in the IT sector,” he said.
“We would definitely see a major upgrade to our IT infrastructure.
There will be no more lags and no place unreachable,” Pacquiao said.
Last January, Pacquiao had his first meeting with Space X top executives where there they discussed the possibility of using low orbit satellites to provide cheap internet to the country and the possibility of establishing a spaceship launchpad in the Philippines.
“I also hope to see greater collaboration among global tech giants like Space X with our local IT service providers so that they too can keep up with the demands of the IT market. We all have to work together for a better life for all Filipinos,” he added.
In their meeting last January, Pacquiao, together with Pimentel discussed with Hunter and other Space X executives various areas of cooperation not only on improving the country’s IT infrastructure but also in other areas of investment.