PDP-Laban ends coalition with UNA
MANILA, Philippines — Boxing superstar and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao will be part of Vice President Jejomar Binay's lineup of senatorial candidates in the 2016 national elections.
Binay said in a press conference Friday that Pacquiao has been in talks to join the political ticket prior to the 2013 midterm elections, according to a radio report.
Binay, who has long expressed his plans to run for president, also said that he is considering either Senator Jinggoy Estrada or Batangas Governor Vilma Santos-Recto as his running mate.
Estrada, meanwhile, is embroiled in the "pork barrel" controversy facing multiple charges of plunder and malversation for allegedly embezzling his Priority Development Assistance Funds through bogus non-government organizations supposedly led by detained businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles.
Related: Binay willing to tap Jinggoy as VP in 2016 polls
Earlier this week, Binay had said that he is eyeing telecommunications and mining mogul Manuel V. Pangilinan as his vice president.
The country's second top leader said this following his recent resignation as chairman from the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan or PDP-Laban. The move was linked to Binay's plans for presidency and impending creation of a new political party for 2016.
PDP-Laban, meanwhile, announced Friday that it has cut off its ties with the United Nationalist Alliance led by Binay, Mayor Joseph Estrada and Senator Juan Ponce Enrile.
PDP-Labal spokesman Doy del Castillo said that the party wishes its former chairman well in his plans to pursue the presidency.