Pacquiao set to take oath as PDP-Laban member

MANILA, Philippines – World boxing champion and Saranggani Representative Manny Pacquiao will take his oath as a member of the Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban (PDP-Laban) this Monday night, said the party president and Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III.

Sarangani Representative Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Pimentel said over the phone that he would preside the ceremony.

Pacquiao will become a high ranking official of the party in charge of Mindanao. He will also be the party’s gubernatorial candidate in 2013, Pimentel said.

“We took in Pacquiao not because he can make us win but because he believes in the tenets of the party,” Pimentel said.

Pimentel said the party would tap the help of the world boxing champion to consolidate Mindanao.

In the 2010 election, Pacquiao joined the Nacionalista Party of Senator Manny Villar who ran and lost in the presidential race. He bolted Villar’s group after the elections.