FILIPINO boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao had already left for the US where he will resume training for his title challenge against Puerto Rican Miguel Angel Cotto by the time this article is posted. It is a megabout event for the latter’s World Boxing Organization welterweight crown.
He will leave his political camp on its own while he cloisters himself in training and boxes his way into another record breaking victory – if he wins against Cotto.
Manny felt his debacle in 2007 needs redemption.
Next year, he will run for a seat in Philippine Congress in another province to also presumably erase that stigma of defeat.
Manny has repeatedly defied advices against him running for elective office, most of them from avid fans and close friends.
There has not been a Filipino boxer who won a seat in Philippine Congress or any local executive office anywhere in the country. Only one made an attempt before, if my memory served me right, and that was him.
Manny began building his machinery for this rerun as early as last year- even before he defeated Oscar de la Hoya.
Months after that smashing December 2008 victory against boxing’s biggest cash cow, Manny transferred his residency in Kiamba town in Sarangani, hometown of his wife Jinky in preparation for his second run at politics.
He has already stacked himself with politician-advisers, many of them he met in cockpits and mahjong and card tables. Many more are in the beeline wanting to gatecrash into the local political party that Manny organized and registered several months ago.
He has started conducting medical and relief missions in the villages of Sarangani and given away school bags to pupils amounting to millions of pesos.
His media team recently bought additional airtimes from a local radio station to boost his image to the tune of at least one million pesos (US$20,000).
An insider likewise said Manny had already spent tens of millions more to win over supporters even before he could file his certificate of candidacy.
It makes one wonder how much more is Manny willing to throw in his dogged ambition to be called ‘Honorable Congressman’ from Sarangani.
If this is Manny’s way at redemption, he is paying a costly price.
In 2007, it was reported that only P700,000 was left in one of his bank accounts after the elections, when he ran and lost against Darlene Magnolia Antonino-Custodio.
Some say Manny spent over P130 million (almost US$3 million) for that costly defeat.
It is not entirely a long shot Manny will spend double that figure to win next year’s election.
How the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will handle such scandalous expenditure is a task like no other as even senators are limited to P5 per registered voter in election spending.
Sarangani has less than 200,000 registered voters in 2007.
Manny should spend no more than P5 (US 10 cents) per registered voter per implementing rules and regulations of the Fair Elections Act. Now do your math.
So why spend tens of millions for a position that pays less than US$20,000 a year?
