“The senator’s move was ill-advised.”
“The senator’s move was ill-advised.”
Senator Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao is apparently so consumed by his ambition to become the next president that he could not wait to declare his intended candidacy in the May 9, 2022 elections.
He must be driven by the same hunger for better life he had when he began his boxing career at age 14 to lift his family from poverty and eventually become the only eight-weight division champion in the sport’s history.
Throughout his illustrious boxing career, he has conquered bigger opponents — the latest being Keith Thurman.
Unfortunately, the Pambansang Kamao may have picked the wrong fight in the arena of Philippine politics.
He was recently quoted as saying corruption in the government remains rampant, and “even worse than ever.”
President Duterte, his own PDP-LABAN partymate did not quite take the senator’s pronouncement well and slammed the latter for politicking as part of his presidential aspiration.
From the looks of it, Pacquiao has been ill-advised into announcing his planned presidential run. His talking points were poorly-coached.
Pacquiao and his team apparently underestimated the President as an opponent when they decided to backstab the latter.
I’m sure the ill-designed strategy to provoke Manong Digong to a verbal tussle to invite attention to Pacquiao’s political agenda could not have come from Freddie Roach.
In reaction to Manong Digong’s challenge to give him a list of the corruption-ridden agencies, Pacquiao has so far named the Departments of Health, Social Welfare and Development, Energy, and Environment and Natural Resources.
But there is nothing new in Pacquiao’s allegations of irregularities which are all being looked into by the Mega Task Force Anti-Corruption created by the President last October and headed by Department of Justice (DOJ) Sec. Menardo Guevarra.
Indeed, having been frustrated and exasperated by corruption amid the Covid-19 pandemic crisis, Manong Digong formed the inter-agency task force to stop graft and corrupt practices in the wake of the multi-billion peso PhilHealth anomalies.
So, Pacquiao’s claims are nothing but a recycled bunch of allegations of corruption which the President never said have been totally eliminated.
Note that the senator has also severed ties with his longtime close friend, Gov. Chavit Singson, who disagreed with his legislative proposal to increase excise tax on tobacco.
This proves that Pacquiao lives up to the adage that there are no permanent friends, only permanent interests in politics.
The Pacman ought to be cautious with his offensive moves or he might get blindsided by a knockout punch like the one he got from Juan Manuel Marquez.
Just as the word war between him and the President heated up, Pacquiao left for the United States to train for his upcoming fight with unbeaten Errol Spence next month in Las Vegas.
The boxing world’s future Hall of Famer must decide once and for all whether to keep fighting in the ring or fight his way to Malacañang.
In 2016, one Makati resident petitioned for Pacquiao’s disqualification as a “nuisance candidate” for senator on the grounds of his habitual absences during his previous tenure as Sarangani congressional representative.
The petitioner, veteran journalist Ferds Sevilla, unfortunately could not afford to pay the P10,000 “processing fee” for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to give due course and ruling to his plea.
Pacquiao prevailed while the poor petitioner, who was himself running for senator, was the one Comelec disqualified motu propio as a nuisance candidate for his lack of financial ability to mount a serious national election campaign.
But true enough to Sevilla’s claim, Pacquiao has been practically unproductive since his 2019 election to the Senate except for a few privilege speeches because he is always busy training for a boxing match.
Our endearing world boxing champ must have been encouraged, too, by his good showing in the surveys on 2022 presidentiables, indicating he may be within striking distance.
Pacquiao has every right to dream big and vie for the top government post, as does any moneyed Filipino the Comelec would allow to.
But he and his team of advisers must realize that fans or followers do not necessarily get swayed by sheer grandstanding and go out to vote for their idols on poll day.