World News for Students of English

24-09-2021 07:00

The Philippines boxing star and senator Manny Pacquiao is running for president, announcing his candidacy for next year’s elections.

Pacquiao presents a potential threat to President Rodrigo Duterte’s plans, as the race for the president takes shape.

A group of the ruling PDP-Laban party nominated Pacquiao in a video-streamed national convention. Analysts see Pacquaio’s presidential bid as a threat to Duterte’s candidate in 2022. The boxer could split the vote in the southern island where both of them come from, opening the door for opposition people. In a survey in June, Pacquiao ranked fifth among 15 possible presidential candidates.

The Filipino boxer has been a senator since 2016, and he once was a loyal ally to Duterte, defending the president’s deadly drug war. However, recently, he criticized the government for alleged corruption and its opinion on the South China Sea.

Difficult words: take shape (to begin a process), bid (an attempt to do something), alleged (something that people say is true).

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