Pacquiao to back Cha-cha

With corruption “contaminating” almost all of the Philippines’ systems, presidential aspirant Sen. Manny Pacquiao on Thursday said he will push for charter change should he be elected in the 2022 May polls. 

Pacquiao said the country’s shift to a federal parliamentary system may be the solution needed to resolve all the issues surrounding it.

“We will push for it along with the strengthening of local autonomy,” Pacquiao said in a presidential interview over DZBB. “We will download the budget of the national government to the local government and let them implement it. After all, they’re the ones who know the problems of our country.”

The Philippines is currently operating on a presidential system where the power and authority lie in the central government. It goes against the federalism setup where local governments manage their own economies.

In 2021, the retired boxing champion vowed to back “hybrid” federalism if he wins in the upcoming polls.

Pacquiao, 44, is running under the Cebu-based PROMDI party alongside House Deputy Speaker Lito Atienza. His platform centers on anti-corruption and anti-crime programs, which will be carried under his 22-point priority agenda.

He has yet to release all of its salient points but said it will include plans to eradicate corruption, promote economic growth and development, employment programs, housing programs, and reforms on the country’s health and judiciary system.

“I have a lot of plans and strategies that I thought of. I cannot disclose all of it because they (presidential aspirants) will prepare for it. But God gave me the wisdom to eradicate corruption after I came to know all of it during my years in service,” he said.