About 2,000 supporters of presidential aspirant Senator Emmanuel 'Manny' Pacquiao marched from Luneta Park to the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) on Sunday, May 1, to commemorate Labor Day and to declare the once eight-division boxing champion to be the only candidate who “has the genuine heart to help the labor sector.”
The “prayer march” was organized by volunteers from Las Piñas, Parañaque, Pasay, Bacoor, San Jose Del Monte Bulacan, Caloocan, and Quezon City.
They said that the senator was truly “representative” of the country’s labor sector.
The event, dubbed as “Maralitang Filipino Prayer Walk,” was also a show of solidarity among Pacquiao’s volunteers.
The marchers said Pacquiao’s life experience as one from the depths of poverty and one who has gone through hard labor makes him the best choice for Filipino laborers.
They believe that the senator is the only candidate who can help increase their minimum take-home pay because “he has lived the life of a poor laborer.”
Others can only make promises, the group said.
Before becoming one of the world’s only eight-division boxing champion, Pacquiao worked as a panadero (baker), construction worker, and an ambulant vendor.
The prayer march was headed by Mel Bernabe of the Friends of MP Support Group (FMPSG), Pastor Jun Cabatbat, and leaders of various Pacquiao support groups such as former PBA star Zaldy Realubit, Pastor Fred Balabrica, Cenon Prias, Rociel Dela Cruz, and Pastor Julito Bob Sarita, among others.