Feature: World boxing champ Pacquiao toys with idea of throwing hat into ring of presidency

Filipino boxing legend and politician Emmanuel "Manny" Dapidran Pacquiao, known as Pacman, is still playing coy about his rumored political ambitions.

Like all politicians, Pacquiao has opted to keep his cards close to his chest apparently to avoid telegraphing his moves to potential rivals.

Pacquiao said last week that running for president in 2022 is far from his mind, adding that he would rather focus on his job as a lawmaker than seeking the presidency.

However, Pacquiao told reporters that his options remain open, dropping a strong hint that joining the next presidential race is not as farfetched as it may seem.

A born-again Christian, Pacquiao said the presidency is destiny, a will of God. "I am not closing doors. God will deliver you the presidency if that is his will," the 37-year-old neophyte senator said.

"It's far from my mind. I'd like to focus on my legislative work for now," Pacuiao told reporters last week.

The novice senator who won a seat for the first time in the Philippine senate in the May 2016 national election said he is beginning to "enjoy" his work as a senator.

Last week, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte raised the Filipino sensation's hands and quipped, "he's for president", piquing the media's curiosity about Pacquiao's potential political plans.

Pacquiao paid a courtesy call to Duterte at the Malacanang presidential palace after his victory over American Jessie Vargas in Las Vegas on Nov. 6. On congratulating Pacquiao, Duterte said, "For me, it's do or die for Pacquaio."

Duterte and Pacquiao are political allies. Both hail from Mindanao island in the southern Philippines and are advocates of the war on illegal drugs and bringing back the death penalty.

Pacquiao said he believes that Duterte's presidency will bring change and hope to the country, and he would like to help bring about that change.

"That's my commitment. I am glad that the president and I have the same advocacies. I'm sure that within six years there will be a lot of changes in our country," Pacquiao added.

Philippine presidents serve a single six-year term and are barred from seeking re-election. Duterte's term ends in 2022.

This is not the first time that Pacquiao has talked about his presidential ambitions. In 2013, Pacquiao's American promoter, Bob Arum, said the boxer-turned-politician has plans to run for the senate in 2016 "and then in 2022 or maybe later he'll run for president."

Pacquiao will be qualified to run for president in the 2022 elections.

Pacquiao's foray into the political arena was not easy. He lost his first bid for a seat in the House of Representatives in 2007. Three years later, he won a seat in the House of Representatives in 2010, a position he held until 2016.

But many were not impressed by his political performance. Pacquiao, who literally punched his way out of poverty, is much admired and loved as a boxer, rather than as a politician.

Jayeel Serrano Cornelio, a sociologist and the director of the Development Studies at the Ateneo de Manila University, wrote in Rappler, a Philippine-based social news network, in May, about Pacquiao's qualifications as a legislator.

"Hands down, he enjoys a sterling reputation as a boxing champion and it might take some time for any Filipinos to match his achievements. But like his singing and acting, his performance as (a member of the House of Representatives) has been rather off-key," Cornelio said.

"He became notorious for his perennial absence, for example. Attendance, if only to meet the quorum, matters in the House of Representatives. If Congress were like any typical class, he would have been a dropout long ago."

"In 2012, in a rare moment when he took the podium, he rejects the RH Bill (Reproductive Health) using religious reasoning that conveniently evaded the nuances of the proposed law. His religious convictions, while commendable at times especially in relation to his conversions, have also become a convenient excuse for his irresponsible and ill-informed views about the LGBT (community)."

Pacquiao drew flak at the start of the campaign in May when he compared lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to animals.

"Overall," Cornelio said, "without any solid legislative accomplishment, his performance in Congress has been characterized as underachieving. Whoever said that was simply being polite."

However, Cornelio said Pacquiao has potential, saying that he "brings with him a unique experience that inspires the rest of the population."

"One does not need to be a lawyer or an honor graduate to become a good senator. Eloquence, the mark of elitism in our country, must not even be a criterion. As a venue where the law of the land is deliberated, the senate needs to welcome a broad segment of legislators. Only then can national welfare be genuinely discerned," he said.

Cornelio went on to explain, "It is for this reason that while Pacquiao's credibility is in question among technocrats, legal experts, and perhaps the middle class too, he in fact brings with him a unique experience that inspires the rest of the population. Like the new president (Duterte), he is from Mindanao and poverty was never too high an obstacle for him. That he overthrew no less than a dynasty when he first ran as representative in 2010 is also very telling."

Pacquiao's pugilistic prowess has earned him the admiration of a nation that has been in the doldrums for decades because of widespread corruption and poverty.

Sincerity and empathy for the common man are not lacking in Pacquiao. But his political naïveté, partly due to the fact that he is not highly educated and has a lack of political skills, is self-evident.

In an interview with Xinhua before the May 2010 general elections, Pacquiao said he decided to enter the political arena to help the masses.

"I hope to enjoy my winnings from boxing until I retire. My hope is to be given an opportunity to help others. I'm happy if I'm able to help," he said.

Well-known internationally, Pacquiao is the epitome of the celebrity-cum-hero of the poor who have used their popularity to enter politics.

In the Philippines, where personalities, not issues, usually dominate political campaigns, Pacquiao might just win the presidency one day. Enditem