Manny Pacquiao hopes to add star power in the campaign sorties of the Philippines’ Nacionalista Party (NP) presidential candidate Sen. Manny Villar. The seven-time world division champion is trying to turn his popularity into votes for the self-made billionaire–turned-politician in the May presidential election.
Pacquiao, who is now in the final stages of his training for his welterweight title defense against Joshua Clottey on March 13, is NP’s key endorser in Saranggani province. He promised to campaign for Villar in a videotaped message to Cebuanos during the Nacionalista Party’s grand rally.
But a survey conducted by Pulse Asia in late October and released last December shows that Pacquiao isn’t an effective endorser and allegedly carries the proverbial “kiss of death.”
The survey shows 58 to 79 percent of the 1,800 respondents “are surely/probably not supporting a presidential bid endorsed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, former President Joseph Estrada(…)and People’s Champ Manny Pacquiao.”
