SEN. Manny Pacquiao, the lone presidential candidate from Mindanao, feels comfortable being tagged as the emergent dark horse with four days to go in the race for the top post.
Meeting with the media in Iligan City Tuesday night on the last leg of his Mindanao swing, the PROMDI Party standard bearer voiced confidence that he has built up enough momentum in the campaign homestretch to offer survey frontrunners a serious challenge come election day.
Pacquiao revealed he had planned on barnstorming Northern Luzon, Eastern Visayas, and Central Mindanao in the final three weeks of the campaign period as he hoped to test the strength of former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos in the Ilocos Region and Leyte provinces.
Likewise, he said it was part of the strategy not to bring along celebrities in his sorties to afford him greater opportunity to connect with the audience and avoid distractions as he presents his pro-poor and anti-corruption platform.
“You yourselves saw the people because you were with me. I did not ferry busloads of supporters. I could not even offer them snacks or bottled water. And yet they waited all day. Even when we got held up and arrived at 10:30 in the evening, more than 30,000 stood by to listen,” he said.
Pacquiao said he is inspired by the reception he has been getting from supporters since he went on the road stumping in Ilocos, Leyte, Samar, Cebu, Lanao del Sur, Zamboanga peninsula, and Misamis Oriental.
He said he is counting on the masses, comprised of ordinary and poor citizens, to spring a surprise against his rivals.
The retired boxing icon is now in Cebu, the province with the biggest voting population, and another area that the Marcos camp is expecting to dominate.
Pacquiao pointed out that he enjoys one distinct advantage over the rest of the field — he is the only one who speaks the Visayas dialect and is a true native of Mindanao.
“People are clamoring for true reforms and in their hearts, they know MP (Pacquiao’s initials) can deliver what they aspire for,” he said.
The lawmaker said his simple message of clean governance with concrete actions is getting through in the public consciousness.
He has promised to promote a massive social housing program to provide employment, spur commercial activities, and jack up purchasing power by saving money on rent.
“I am not hunkering for popularity or power. My aim is to bring to heel those who have long bled government coffers through corruption,” he said.
