“It’s a clown show” Champion Boxer v Ex-Dictator’s Son: Who will come out on top?

Around 63 million Filipinos will go to the polls and vote in the May 2022 Philippine presidential election. Replacing the current President Rodrigo Duterte who is coming to the end of his single six-year term. But who will replace him?

The political smackdown of the ages: an ex-dictator’s son, an actor turned mayor, the vice president and one of the greatest professional boxers of all time competing to win over the Filipino public and take the lead of the Philippines for the next six years. The Duterte era caused unrest with the Philippines being one of the countries with the highest covid cases reported in Asia and his infamous ongoing war on drugs which painted the streets red with blood and caused an international uproar. Will the next president create peace or will they continue the fight that Duterte has left? Do the Filipino people have faith in the candidates to do what they promised? It doesn’t seem likely as it is quoted as a circus of candidates by many onlookers, it’s no surprise that this is about to be a chaotic spectacle that is about to entertain the globe.

“I can't deal with Filipino politics, it’s a clown show, to be honest,” said Abigail Romo, a dentistry student from Centro Escolar University in Manila. “Even actors are running for these positions now, they’re using their power to get richer.” The presidential race seems more like a battle of who is more famous than the other. They are using their notoriety to get more votes, adding the word President to the mix is an extra bonus.

So, who are the Celebs…. I mean, candidates who are running for this election?

The most famous candidate globally to run for the Philippine presidency is none other than one of the greatest boxers of all time. Twelve-time world champion

Manny Pacquiao

Although, Pacquiao is the most confusing candidate to run for the election, as he isn’t really known for being in politics. However, he has been a senator of the Philippines since 2016 and sat in Congress representing the province of Sarangani in 2010 until 2016. So he has the qualifications to run more than some political candidates we’ve seen run worldwide in recent years.

Pacquiao represented the current ruling party called PDP-Laban which is a democratic socialist party in the Philippines with the Chairperson being the outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte however Pacquiao was critical of his government.

Will he use his political prowess to get ahead in this election or will he fight his way there?

Next up, we have a beloved actor and Mayor of Manila

Isko Moreno

A popular candidate, Moreno received a “Hero of The Year” award for his efforts during the pandemic and was voted in the list of “Top 10 Men Who Matter” twice in 2011 and 2019. Take that as you will…

Moreno is running under the political party Aksyon which takes a Liberal democracy stance and is considered one of the major parties in the Philippines.

His political views on certain issues include reviving small businesses affected by the pandemic, developing economic hubs outside Manila and having a more humane approach to Duterte’s war on drugs.

Furthermore, we have the Vice President and one of the favourites to win

Leni Robredo

Robredo assumed office in 2016 and is running as an independent candidate in the presidential election. She is very popular amongst the young Filipino population with the ‘pink movement’ spreading across the nation and into other countries around the world. Her followers wear her campaign colour pink to show their support. Her primary stance is to make sure Bongbong Marcos Jr., her main opponent, doesn't get elected into office and to keep the Marcos family from returning to Filipino politics.

Speaking of, the current frontrunner of the election so far is the son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos

Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

What can we say about this candidate? Other than that his Dad caused a civil uprising within the Filipino public which caused the exiling of his family to Hawaii. Marcos announced he was running through a Facebook post. (Power of social media, I guess)

Bongbong Marcos was inspired to run for the presidency after watching the Marvel movie Ant-man. No, I’m not making this up. In an interview conducted by CNN Philippines with his wife Liza he said to her whilst watching the Paul Rudd superhero film, “We’re gonna do this… Run for the presidency.”

I was casually talking with family friends and overheard “The Marcos family name has been ruined once. It won’t happen again. He’d be too stupid to do something like that.” Again, take that as you will.

There is no doubt that Filipino politics is just frantic, chaotic and leaves you saying “what am I seeing?”. The polls open on May 9th and who knows what will happen. Many commentators quote this election as a political circus, so let the performances begin!

Who knows who will run in the future; Dave Bautista? Bruno Mars? Vanessa Hudgens?!

What we do know is, if you’re famous, you have a chance of running a country that's home to 109 million people and over 7,000 islands! Cool Right? I am being sarcastic here but this is a very serious issue, many Filipinos are voting for who will represent them globally for the next six years and only time will tell if their President-Elect will do a good job.