Manny Pacquiao during the final press conference held at the KA Theatre in MGM Grand, Las Vegas Nevada on Wednesday, 29 April 2015. PHOTO BY REM ZAMORA/INQUIRER/ See more at FRAME
WHEN MANNY Pacquiao finally calls an end to his historic ring career, he will have his eyes on a much bigger prize—the Philippine presidency.
The Filipino world champion, who will fight American Floyd Mayweather Jr. this weekend in boxing’s richest fight, has used the fame and wealth generated by his sporting feats to launch a successful political career.
The 36-year-old former street kid is now a second-term congressman with a publicly declared ambition to conquer one of Asia’s most chaotic and corrupt democracies.
Pacquiao confirmed his presidential ambitions to Agence France-Presse (AFP) in 2013, but has since been coy about his political plans.
“Yes,” he said then, when asked if he wanted to be president. “(But) it’s far away … it’s God’s will.”
In the run-up to the Mayweather bout, Pacquiao’s American promoter, Bob Arum, reignited Pac-the-politician talk when he said his fighter had a strategy laid out for a presidential run.
“He is going to be a president,” Arum told paparazzi website TMZ.
“He is going to run for the Senate of the Philippines in 2016 and then 2022, or maybe later, he’ll run for president.”
Doubts persist
Although he is almost unanimously adored in the Philippines for his exploits in the ring and widely admired for his sportsmanship, there are doubts about whether he has what it takes to be president.
Pacquiao has the dubious distinction of having the worst attendance record in Congress last year, raising questions as to whether he is truly committed to helping his constituents.
Pacquiao was present in only four of 70 session days in 2014, according to congressional attendance records. They also showed he authored only four bills, none of which passed into law.
“That’s what you call a zero record,” Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform, told AFP.
Bad side of politics
Many also believe Pacquiao, for better or worse, has embraced the bruising, big-spending tactics that are commonly used in the Philippines’ ruthless political ring.
“Unfortunately, he is learning the bad side of politics,” Casiple said.
Casiple noted that, since losing in his first campaign in 2007, Pacquiao has turned political rivals into allies, paving the way for his own political dynasty.
“He was a good student of traditional politics after he lost,” he said.
Beware of allies
One of Pacquiao’s longtime political mentors is Luis “Chavit” Singson, a self-confessed former gambling lord who leads his own political dynasty and whose politician-son was jailed for cocaine possession in Hong Kong.
Former Rep. Darlene Antonino-Custodio, who handed Pacquiao his first and only political defeat in 2007, said the boxer could be too gullible in terms of whom he decided to choose as allies.
“I like Manny. I think he is a very sincere politician. He just needs to be careful about who he surrounds himself with,” she said.
Still, Pacquiao showed in his successful campaign for a congressional seat in the 2010 elections that he was a savvy politician.
He used his vast wealth to defeat dynasty patriarch Roy Chiongbian in the poor southern province of Sarangani.
He spent enormous amounts to win favors, giving a mayor a firetruck, building a gymnasium, installing electricity and potable water systems in churches and mosques, and paying for scholarships and funerals.
Then he formed an alliance with the Chiongbians that enabled him to run unopposed for a second term in 2013.
Dynasty in the making
Pacquiao also quickly began laying the groundwork for a political dynasty.
Dynasties are widely blamed for the Philippines’ endemic corruption and weak democracy, with families using their power in local fiefdoms to control businesses and perpetuate their rule.
Pacquiao’s popularity and influence helped his wife Jinkee, who had only previously worked as a shopping mall beauty consultant, get elected as Sarangani vice governor in 2013.
At the same time, in his hometown of General Santos City, a party mate was elected mayor while two of his brothers and a sister-in-law were elected village councilors.
Not riches alone
But Casiple believes Pacquiao’s riches and boxing legend alone will not be enough to propel him to the presidency in 2022, and he has much to learn before then.
“Everyone who thought they could be president based on
money and popularity alone lost,” he said.
Ateneo de Manila University political science professor Benito Lim also said Pacquiao needed to build a serious political platform if he wants the public to see him as a presidential timber.
“He can’t rely on just handouts if he wants to be president,” Lim said, referring to the big-spending tactics employed in the 2010 local election.
“His money is not enough. He needs a meaningful vision for the country and the public is waiting for that.” AFP
Originally posted: 11:55 AM | Thursday, April 30th, 2015