Incompetence surrounds Pacquiao

It is becoming increasingly evident that pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao is either surrounded by incompetent advisers, including lawyers who don’t know the law, or that he is stubborn enough to ignore them.
Pacquiao’s announcement that he plans to run for vice president in 2016 was met by disbelief by most people, not because of the audacity of his announcement but the fact that under the Constitution of the Republic he is ineligible to run because he would be underage at the time of the elections.
Of course we wonder why Manny chose to make such a significant announcement on Mexican television and not before his own people. We could perhaps forgive his youthful exuberance after receiving a fantastic welcome last week from Mexican fight fans and members of parliament, who pushed and shoved each other to get close to the international boxing icon.
Even as Pacquiao clearly signifies the political path he wishes to tread, one must wonder—and question—some of the choices he has made thus far in terms of the people who surround him and form part of his team.
If he decides to have foreigners in different capacities, as long as they stay clear of politics, it is his choice. But it is the Filipinos’ right to question such choices especially if in the forseeable future Pacquiao is elected to an office higher than the one he currently holds.
The one relationship that upsets many is his partnership with a certain Timothy James Sladeck, who handles Pacquiao’s website with Manny’s obvious imprimatur, apprently with Franklin “Jeng” Gacal, Pacquiao’s lawyer, as a partner.
Sladeck was recently in the news when he reportedly threatened and harassed the owner of the widely read philboxing.com website, Dong Secuya, one of the humblest, soft-spoken media people you could ever get to know. Sladeck demanded that Secuya shut down his Pacland website that did more to promote Pacquiao when he was a comparative nobody than even the astute Top Rank promoter Bob Arum.
When we asked him at the Manila Hotel launch of the World Press Tour for the upcoming trilogy with Juan Manuel Marquez about the incident, Pacquiao said he would resolve the problem.
Clearly, we expect Pacquiao, who has said he will later aspire for the presidency, to be far more prudent and circumspect in his choice of individuals who work with or for him. This is particularly relevant in Sladek’s case since he serves as a spokesperson who often quotes Manny on his website.
While we accept the fact that Sladeck has paid his dues and served his time, he did so in the US and paid his dues to American society, not here. There is nothing edifying in Pacquiao giving this individual a second chance. For the record it may be worthwhile to reprint the Los Angeles Times story on Sladeck so it may put into better perspective the point that Pacquiao needs to take a close, hard look at the people around him.
LA Times staff writer Scott Martelle reported on Aug. 1, 1997 that “A former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy obsessed with bodybuilding was sentenced to more than five years in state prison after pleading guilty to robbing a Lake Forest jewelry store early this year. Timothy James Sladeck, 29, of Foothill Ranch, was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to two counts of armed robbery, one count of felony possession of steroids and a misdemeanor charge of possessing a hypodermic syringe.”
It is often said that an individual is judged by the company he keeps and, in this regard, Manny is surely found wanting.
We all admire Pacquiao for his incredible achievements and share a great deal of affection for this charismatic young man whom we have known since he was 16. It is that admiration and affection that compels us to raise these fundamental issues at this time because only true friends will tell him what they perceive is wrong. Leeches and miscellaneous hangers-on will continue to surround him and suck his blood money and tell him everything is okay.