Very broadly and simply put:
Why would Philippines Senator Manny Pacquiao be "banking on the support of Filipino voters from classes D and E to win the 2022 presidential race"?
Manny is banking on getting votes from those who would recognize and sympathize with his poor roots, before he made fame and fortune in boxing.
He is selling a rags to riches story and it will not resonate with the rich upper classes, those of ABC, but he is hoping it will with the lower classes and the poor, D and E.
TL;DR:
i. D and E are the poor classes and numerically make up the largest group of voters.
ii. Manny sees himself as coming from those same people (D and E) and hopes that they will rally behind him for this reason.
iii .There is no point targeting ABC class because:
- they have no familiarity with him,
- they are not poor,
- they do not have rags-to-riches stories behind them,
- they are not interested in him (he is considered politically uneducated, and he has a poor track record of attendance as senator and he suffers from their jibes because of his accent and his poor roots), and finally,
- because ABC represent such a small voting group.
GENERAL SANTOS, Philippines:
Manny Pacquiao decided to hold a campaign kick-off in his hometown because "this is the place where my dreams started."
Pacquiao told of how difficult it was growing up poor, and how corruption exacerbates poverty and slows economic development in the country.
"I will make sure that every Filipino has a job and that jobs will look for them. I will ensure that the poor are not aggrieved and oppressed"
"I will ensure every person will be equal before the law. I will make sure that every family will have a home because I've been doing that ever since"
Pacquiao is banking on the support of voters in the Visayas and Mindanao to see him as one of them, reason being that he is targeting the largest group of voters, class D and E, who make up a large proportion of the population in those regions:
"I know that the Bisaya will support a fellow Bisaya. Who else is supposed to help us?"
The presidential bid of Pacquiao could be "viable" if he captures the majority of votes in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Tied at third spot in a poll in December 2021, Pacquiao is unperturbed by his standing in opinion polls.
So what’s his plan?
"We will penetrate the ground," he said, referring to voters in the lower-income D and E segments of society.
Pacquiao, whose rag-to-riches rise has inspired many people, believes he should succeed President Rodrigo Duterte as the country’s leader because he knows what it’s like to be poor.
His brand is as a good philanthropist, and builds on his identity as coming from the people and having a heart for the people.
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/02/08/2159370/pacquiao-gets-his-biggest-fight-ye
Perhaps Pacquiaois looking at the expanding middle of the Philipines:
(Political Parties, Party Systems And Democratization In East Asia)
Past dissatisfaction:
Two thirds of the population say that no political party truly promotes their welfare.
Regardless of geography or socio-economic class, no one party has been shown in the past to promote welfare of the people.
Political parties are recommended to prioritize mass membership and political education, especially of non-politicians, from class D, which comprises the lower middle class, and the working poor as it is these that have more interest in political education than classes ABC (the upper to middle class) and class E, the very poor.
https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/05/18/opinion/columnists/the-growing-middle-2022/873737
So why does Manny not preach to the modern social media types of the richest ABC socio-economic classes?
“The battle is in the communities, not social media.”
Those belonging to the socio-economic classes ABC are the most opinionated and noisiest on politics especially on social media.
However, by sheer numbers, those who actually decide elections are those in the D and E classes because in the last elections, class D held almost 8 out of every 10 votes. Combined with class E, they held 9.4 votes.
This is because those in ABC only made up 6 percent of voters.
Those in class D comprised 78 percent of voters, and class E , 16 percent.
This shows that classes D and E will be dominant especially with the worsening poverty that they are experiencing due to the on going pandemic.
91 percent of Filipinos get their news from TV, 49 percent from radio, and 48 percent from the internet. Only those in classes ABC rely mostly on online news
While 63 percent of Filipinos access the internet, 37 percent do not.
48 percent of class E and 36 percent of class D do not use and access the internet.
These are huge numbers especially since they potentially control more than 9 of every 10 votes.
Internet access is lowest in Mindanao at 47 percent.
Social media campaigns therefore are not enough to win elections - this would not work because candidates are then only mostly connecting with those from classes A, B, and C and neglecting those in D and E, who are rarely online either because of cost or because of low-wage working hours.
Television is still the main source of news for the big majority of voters, with socio-economic classes D and E making up most of those.
https://manilastandard.net/opinion/columns/power-point-by-elizabeth-angsioco/367500/the-battle-is-in-the-communities.html
Visayas and Mindanao, have the worst poverty profile with large numbers of the population coming from D and E classes, therefore Manny is targeting those there, which also happens to include his city of origin, General Santos..
Socio-Economic Class Distribution
Socio-economic class NCR Balance Visayas Mindanao Luzon
AB (rich) 11% 11% 11% 10% 10%
C (middle) 7 4 17 3 5
D (lower) 62 77 62 54 54
E (extremely lower) 20 8 10 33 31
“I am fighting to fight for the country’s future, especially for the poor. I and my supporters will not be disheartened. We will continue to knock on every door, community, town, and province to share our plans in alleviating our country from poverty,”
Advantage through home province
Pacquaio can bring in votes from his home province of Mindanao, the southernmost Philippine island, and the Visayas central region. Securing votes from these regional voting blocs will give Pacquaio a clear chance at the presidency.
"Voters want to elect someone from their region or province because the president will prioritize these areas and support development projects in their area,"
"Pacquiao can claim an ability to relate to the masses that no other candidate can match,"
Pacquiao had an 18 percent voter support in the Visayas and 13 percent voter support in Mindanao. Support for him was lowest in Metro Manila with only 1 percent, followed by Balance (rest of) Luzon with 3 percent.
“We expect to solidify all Visayans being the only Visayan candidate among the presidentials,”
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/02/14/2160810/unperturbed-pacquiao-says-presidential-bid-has-solid-ground-support
https://www.rappler.com/nation/elections/ferdinand-bongbong-marcos-jr-sustains-lead-pulse-asia-presidential-survey-january-2022/
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/explained/article/3166293/philippine-presidential-election-campaign-begins-whos-running
https://www.dw.com/en/philippines-can-boxer-manny-pacquiao-win-the-presidency/a-59436174
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1554764/pacquiao-vows-to-finish-the-race-unfazed-by-low-ratings
