Pacman eyes presidency

MANILA. — When boxing hero Manny Pacquiao finally calls an end to his historic career in the ring, he will have his eyes on a much bigger prize – president of the Philippines. The world champion, who will fight American Floyd Mayweather this weekend in boxing’s richest fight, has used the fame and wealth generated by his remarkable sporting feats to launch a successful political career.

The 36-year-old former street kid is now a second-term congressman, with publicly declared ambitions eventually to conquer one of Asia’s most chaotic and corrupt democracies.

Pacquiao confirmed his presidential ambitions 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 client 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.”

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 parliament 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, said.

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 and paving the way for his own political dynasty. — AFP.