Rep. Manny Pacquiao is no longer a habitu? of the Presidential Palace where before he can just drive past its gates with ease in his silver Porsche Cayenne or any of his latest top of the line sports vehicles.
Safe to say, too, he no longer probably receives regular hotline calls from the president or gets to attend dinner at Malaca?ang the way he used to during the previous administration.
Heck, even the P250-million presidential commitment for his pet hospital in Sarangani project may never come.
He says Congress is where he is meant to be when he joined politics, and probably the Presidential palace itself one day.
Pacquiao looked like he wants to occupy the highest elective post in the land through the backdoor when he announced he will be trading places with Sarangani Gov. Miguel Rene Dominguez in 2013.
Or is he now being pragmatic to realize a job at Congress will not do his presidential ambition any favor for as long as he will be treated as just one of the boys, even a ?boylet? of powerful brokers of Congress?
No sooner than Pacquiao announced he was eyeing the presidency, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile immediately doused his ambitions with a cold warning: the presidential race is more than just a snake pit.
And there is Pacquiao nemesis Vice President Jejomar Binay, one of the craftiest politician-operators Philippine politics has ever produced, not to mention all other presidential timbers waiting in the wings that he will have to contend with in a presidential race.
