Pacquiao’s Senate victory brings him closer to presidency (The Associated Press)

Boxing great Manny Pacquiao was proclaimed Thursday as a winner of a Philippine Senate seat, bringing him closer to a possible crack at the presidency. At the proclamation ceremony, an elections commissioner introduced Pacquiao as the ”people’s champion” and called out his name in the same slow style that he is introduced in his world-famous bouts, drawing cheers from the audience. The Filipino slugger garnered more than 16 million votes, landing 7th among 12 new members of the Senate, a traditional springboard to the presidency.