The 46-year-old's up-from-your-bootstraps bio is itself the stuff of movies. MCCARTHY: Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno, now a presidential candidate, went from teeny-bopper star on television to making rom-coms. ISKO MORENO: (Singing) Don't tell my heart, my achy breaky heart. So in a strange fashion, you have celebrities presenting themselves as kind of a new force as, like, agents of change. RICHARD HEYDARIAN: So increasingly, you have celebrities, actors especially, you know, noontime show hosts are leveraging their popularity, and they turned it into political capital.
Once he fell, entertainers rushed to join the fiesta of democracy that followed. Political analyst Richard Heydarian says celebrities translating their star power to political power is rooted in the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos and his abolishing of political parties. But Pacquiao can trade his spectacular fame as an athlete for support in the presidential ring. MCCARTHY: He lost - the final bout of a career crown with world titles in eight different weight divisions. UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #2: Final 10 seconds, fans standing on their feet. Regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time, Pacquiao took the plaudits and the punches. Manny Pacquiao, sitting senator, stepped into a Las Vegas boxing ring. UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: Fighting out of the blue corner, really needing no introduction, the world over. JULIE MCCARTHY, BYLINE: Just weeks before declaring his candidacy for the presidency. NPR's Julie McCarthy reports on the popularity of celebrity candidates in the Philippines. A boxing legend, a former screen actor, a scion of one of the country's most powerful dynasties - the May 2022 election to succeed outgoing Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte promises to be a spectacle studded with star power.
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