Philippine boxing champion and senator Manny Pacquiao on Sunday announced that he will be running for president in the upcoming Southeast Asian country’s elections.

According to reports, Pacquiao accepted the nomination of the PDP Laban faction he is leading, amid infighting within the political party.

“The time for change is now. We are ready to rise to the challenge of leadership,” Pacquiao told the assembly.

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“I am accepting your support as your presidential candidate. It’s time for the oppressed to rise. It’s time for a clean government,” reuters reported Pacquiao as saying.

Though Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who recently announced that he will be running for vice-president, is a member of the same party, PDP Laban has been split into two factions.

One is led by Pacquiao and Senator Koko Pimentel who are now running against Duterte, and the other helmed by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi that is backing the country’s president.

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On February 12, 2007, Pacquiao announced his campaign for a seat in the Philippine House of Representatives to represent the first district of South Cotabato province running as a candidate of the Liberal Party faction under Manila mayor Lito Atienza.

Earlier, Pacquiao had said that he was persuaded to run by the local officials of General Santos, hoping he would act as a bridge between their interests and the national government.

However, Pacquiao was forced to run under the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (KAMPI), a pro-Arroyo political party by the courts. 

Pacquiao was defeated in the election by incumbent Rep. Darlene Antonino-Custodio of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), who said, “More than anything, I think, people weren’t prepared to lose him as their boxing icon.”