Manny Pacquiao, also known as “The PacMan” is an ex-professional boxer from the Philippines and currently serves as a politician. From 2016 to 2022, Pacquiao was was the Senator of the Philippines. He’s also a Christian evangelist, business owner, and philanthropist. Since retiring from boxing, he has planned to become an owner of an NBA basketball club.
Serving as Senator
Manny worked alongside Jack Ma, the Alibaba Group co-found throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and was part of having more than 50,000 test kits being made available in the Philippines. This was achieved through the help of the charities that the two were part of.
Pacquiao was made the president of the political party PDP-Laban in December of 2020. But currently, his position is set to be considered by Alfonso Cusi, the Energy Secretary. Recently, on July 17th this year, voting decided that Pacquiao would no longer run as president of the PDP-Laban party and that his post will eventually come to an end. The deputy secretary general, Melvin Matibag, was in agreement with the decision. But for the time being, Pacquiao still holds the presidency.
Manny’s love for boxing saw him making a proposal to start the organization the Philippine Boxing and Combat Sports Commission last year. Though, Senator Pia Cayetano wasn’t in favor of the timing since it was right in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
In May this year, Manny proclaimed his view that Senator Leila De Lima should be removed from his position after being convicted and imprisoned for over five years.
Presidential Campaign of 2022
Pacquiao’s ex-promoter, Bob Arum, announced that Manny informed him he would be running in the 2022 presidential election. Arum also mentioned that Pacquiao declared he would be successful in his campaign and be elected. Word quickly made its way around and it became known of the former boxer’s plans.
In June last year, Manny let his opinions be known that Duterte’s response was futile with respect to China’s South China Sea bid for peace. However, Duterte openly disagreed with him, questioning his understanding of foreign policy. Pacquiao didn’t hold back, also expressing his views that Durterte is part of unlawful dealings that lead him and his administration to be more corrupt than the previous presidents of the Philippines. The president refuted Pacquiao’s statements, announcing that we speak out against them at the time of the elections this year.
Pacquiao lost his last boxing match to Yordenis Ugas, and around a month later after being offered his postgame interview, he made it let known that he would of his plans to run for the presidency. This happened at the PDP-Laban National Assembly. He registered as a candidate on the 1st of October under PROMDI, a political party running in Cebu. Cusi resigned from his position as part of the PDP-Laban party following Pacquiao’s declaration.
The former boxer now is involved in helping the poor establish housing and fighting against corruption occurring within the country. From the beginning of the campaign back in February, Pacquiao has found it difficult to make a strong headway towards gaining support. He’s received low ratings and lately has dropped to fifth in the running. In March this year, he held just 1.8% of the votes as revealed in the Publicus Asia poll. He was slightly higher at 8% in a poll released by Pulse Asia.
Pacquiao proposed a debate with Bongbong Marcos who was leading the voting back in March. This was after Marcos faced allegations of not paying taxes amounting to 200 billion pesos. Manny also expressed his opinions that Marcos wasn’t smart enough to be running the country as president. In the end, Marcos won the campaign with Pacquiao finishing in third place.
Acting Career
Although the former boxer has had a few appearances over the years in film, his most recent part was in 2020. He played the part of General Miguel Malvar in the movie Malvar: Tuloy and Laban with the storyline about the country’s hero. However, it sparked some controversy and doesn’t appear to have fully been supported by all within the Malvar family. Malvar’s great-grandson fears that Pacquiao’s acting career might not serve as an extension of the same popularity and fame he held in boxing.