Senator Manny Pacquiao, a boxing icon-turned politician, made a body swerve when he saw a right straight coming Monday on his possible presidential ambition in 2022, only six years after he was elected to the Senate.
Rumors quickly spiralled when he was installed as national president of the PDP-Laban party, the same party of President Rodrigo Duterte, who one year, after he took his presidential oath, told Pacquiao he wanted to make him president.
The lawmaker also recently launched PayPac, an online payment platform envisioned to make cross-border transactions easier, especially for overseas Filipino workers.
But the often Bible verses-quoting Pacquiao, replying to a question in an interview on ANC's Headstart, admitted he would be a hypocrite if he did not think about Duterte's line, adding though that the presidency needed anointing from God, not only from his fellow resident of Mindanao.
Asked if he would consider running for president in case Duterte chose to endorse another candidate in the 2022 polls when Duterte is prohibited under the Constitution to run for another six years, said he would rather not talk about his plans for the elections right now.
"This is not the right time to talk about politics,” said Pacquiao, who was part of the United Nationalist Alliance under which he ran under its presidential standard bearer Jejomar Binay of Makati.