We begin our search at Forbes Park, a gated community about 20 minutes south of metropolitan Manila that has been compared with Beverly Hills for its abundance of wealthy residents.
We negotiate the armed guard at the front gate and crawl our way through the streets, riding the speed bumps in search of the biggest name in The Philippines.
Eventually we stop outside a large white house, albeit conservative by the suburb?s ostentatious standards. A Ford and a Toyota are parked in the drive way. It?s Manny Pacquiao?s holiday home, the house where he and his family live when he is carrying out his duties as a Philippines senator.
We are greeted by Benjamin, a shaven-headed American wearing a basketball shirt with the phrase ?God is with us? blazing above a picture of Pacquiao.
Benjamin met Manny a decade ago when the welterweight champion fought the second of his four epic fights with Juan Manual Marquez in Las Vegas.
The two struck up a friendship which eventually prompted Benjamin ? Choi to his friends ? to up stumps and move to the Philippines, where he acts as one of Pacquiao?s advisers.
He opens the front gate and tells us to bide our time. Pacquiao is still asleep but the plan is for the star to take one of his regular jogs on a 4km circuit mapped out around his house.
It?s just after 6am but Pacquiao is expected to stride through the iron gates at 6.30am. We?re welcome to join him if we feel up to it.
Flies buzz around our legs and the occasional waft of sewage fills the air, which is thick with humidity. It?s already 28C and the mercury is climbing.
Pacquiao is still asleep as 6.30am comes and goes, although the arrival of his two cooks provides hope that he will soon emerge.
There are already two cooks in the house but they are for the rest of the family. The two who saunter past us are for Pacquiao and Pacquiao alone. The champ has to eat.
Aside from the cooks, there are 10 bodyguards and eight maids keeping watch over the Pacquiao clan. The 38-year-old rarely leaves his house to venture out among the great unwashed.
Earlier this week he stopped for fast food at a local restaurant with his family. By the time the food arrived, thousands had surrounded the building. Hence the gated community.
Benjamin, now sitting on a bike, emerges again and confidently predicts Manny isn?t too far away. The issue is convoluted because Pacquiao is apparently due in parliament at 9am. Time is fast running out.
Bobby Pacquiao, Manny?s brother and a former boxer of note himself, joins us. Bobby was meant to run with Manny but obviously ran out of patience.
Pacquiao?s fight against Queenslander Jeff Horn is fast approaching but the champ doesn?t seem to have any sense of urgency.
?Manny is in good condition,? Bobby says. ?He is very fast at this point in time. Jeff Horn is going to be tough because he is young. He is not an easy boxer. That?s why we try to train hard.
?He needs to be fast this time.?
Bobby heads off and completes the circuit. Still no sign of his brother and time is up. Manny has decided to cancel his morning jog and head straight to parliament.
So we do the same. We fight the gridlock to get to parliament, sit down in the cafeteria and wait … and wait … and wait. Again, time becomes our enemy as Manny tests our patience. He has been an elusive figure in the ring and he is proving equally difficult to pin down outside of it.
Jim Banaghan, an executive with promoters Duco Events, is growing increasingly frustrated. ?He?s the only politician you can?t find,? Banaghan quips.
By about 2.30pm we decide to head to Pacquiao?s gym. Apparently he has planned to do a workout before heading to parliament. The Elorde Boxing Gym is named in honour of Filipino legend Gabriel ?Flash? Elorde. A framed poster from Pacquiao?s bout against Jessie Vargas last year adorns one wall, complete with autographs from the fighter and his trainer, Freddie Roach.
On a pole beside a heavy bag is the sort of motivational missive that is synonymous with this type of place. ?These aren?t just heavy bags,? it says. ?They are therapists, psychiatrists and holistic healers all rolled up into glorious 100lb bags of leather and canvas.?
Word arrives that Pacquiao is on his way. Our mission has entered its sixth hour. Pacquiao strides through the door dressed in canvas pants and a polo shirt, his entourage in tow.
His fight against Horn at Suncorp Stadium is less than seven weeks away and Pacquiao is ready to step it up a notch.
He will begin sparring next week and insists, despite the fast food and apathy towards his exercise, he is on track.
?The preparation is good,? Pacquiao said.
?I am feeling good. We have been working on speed and a strong body.?
Asked about his no-show earlier that day, Pacquiao said: ?We did work in the gym yesterday, we did hard work. My body?s tired so I just stretched. We did our first day of plyometrics yesterday. That?s why I am tired. I am training hard.?
Pacquiao is concise with his answers. He dead-bats questions about his past but does give an insight into the future, which could include a fight against England?s Amir Khan. A loss to Horn hasn?t entered his thinking. Retirement, should he suffer a shock loss, is not on his radar. With that, he is done.
?Thank you so much for being here,? he says.
?Welcome to The Philippines. I know most of you are here for the first time, so welcome to our country.?
