Senator Manny Pacquiao was the first to file his certificate of candidacy (COC) for President on Monday, Oct. 1 at the filing venue of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) at the Sofitel Harbor Garden Tents in Pasay City.
The senator filed his COC together with his running mate Buhay party-list Representative Lito Atienza.
In his speech after filing his COC, Pacquiao vowed to help the people recover from poverty amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic by focusing on the economy, internet connectivity, and electricity, among others if elected.
He also assured that he will be putting an end to corruption in government.
"Lahat ng nagsasamantala diyan sa bayan, nagnanakaw, ninanakawan ang sambayanang Filipino e bilang na po ang inyong maligayang araw sa inyong pagsasamantala diyan sa gobyerno
(To all those taking advantage of our people and stealing from government, your days are numbered already)," said Pacquiao.
"Kailangan magsama sama sila sa kulungan at mabigyan hustisya ang ating mga kababayan ng lumago ekonomiya ng ating bansa at mgkaroon tayo ng tunay na pagbabago (They all need to go to jail together in order to give justice to our people, for the economy to grow, and allow true change to happen)," he added.
The senator was nominated by three political parties namely the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), Probinsya Muna Development Initiative (Promdi), and the People's Champ Movement (PCM).
In an interview, Pacquiao said the problems currently faced by PDP-Laban forced him to seek an alliance with other political parties.
"Because we have a problem in the party, we opted to just use Promdi in our CONA (certificate of nomination and acceptance)," he said.
Meanwhile, Pacquiao said he chose Atienza as his running mate citing the experience and sincerity of the latter in helping the people in all his years in public service.
"I saw his sincerity, expertise, and real desire to help the country," he said.
Pacquiao was accompanied by his wife, Jinkee.