HOW huge a politician is Rep. Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao now? Was he able to bring all the goodwill he got as world boxing?s pound-for-pound best (Ring Magazine says the crown is now on Floyd Mayweather Jr.?s head) to the political arena? Can the transition from retirement in boxing to working fulltime as politician be smooth now that he has only a few years left in the profession that has made him rich and famous?
I am asking this because even as the Pacman is preparing for his bout with undefeated Timothy Bradley, he is also continuing to attract attention as a politician. In last Friday?s Mindanao Energy Summit, for example, some people couldn?t help making a fuss about the supposed ?snub? President Noynoy Aquino gave the boxing icon. The President?s fault? He failed to mention the Sarangani lawmaker?s name in his speech.
Monday night, with his trainer Freddie Roach and conditioning coach Alex Ariza waiting to hook up with him in Baguio City for the start of the training for the Bradley fight, Pacquiao ignited a bomb. He took his oath as member of Partido Demokratikong Pilipino (PDP-Laban) of Vice President Jejomar Binay and Sen. Aquilino ?Koko? Pimentel III.
Which is not surprising considering the circumstances and Pacquiao?s nature. As a politician, the Pacman has been willowy, bending wherever the wind blows. His association with former Manila mayor Lito Atienza resulted in him joining the said politician?s wing of the Liberal Party. That ?wing? was eventually cut off from the main LP body because of Atienza?s association with former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Before the 2010 elections, Pacquiao linked up with Sen. Manuel Villar?s Nacionalista Party, joining TV host Willie Revillame in propping up the party chief?s presidential bid. While Pacquiao won the post of Sarangani representative in Congress, Villar failed miserably in his attempt to snatch the presidency, losing to the eventual winner, Aquino, and even trailing to the recycled Joseph ?Erap? Estrada.
Pacquiao?s jump to PDP-Laban was not difficult. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) had earlier filed a case against the boxing icon for ?failure to obey summons,? or refusing to submit documents like tax records and contract endorsements to the bureau.
Pacquiao had slid from being the country?s number one taxpayer in 2008 to being 135th in 2010, this despite his considerable earnings from boxing and endorsements.
The boxer described the suit as plain and simple harassment, seemingly insinuating that there is no love lost between him and the Aquino administration considering his previous links to La Gloria. Besides, as long-time Pacquiao watcher Edwin Espejo noted in his April 16, 2012 article in asiancorrespondent.com, the dynamics of local politics was also at play in the Sarangani lawmaker?s recent move.
Pacquiao couldn?t go Liberal, according to Espejo, because of his rivalry with the Antoninos, who are allied with the party?s top gun, former senator Mar Roxas. One of Roxas?s trusted aides is the younger sister of Gen. Santos City Mayor Darlene Antonino-Custodio, who defeated Pacquiao in the 2007 congressional elections. Pacquiao?s brother Rogelio (a.k.a. Roel), Espejo said, is running for a congressional seat in the first district of Cotabato (which includes Gen. Santos City). The Antoninos are fielding another candidate.
Judging from these developments, it does seem to me that Pacquiao is a fast learner as a politician in the traditional mold. It would be interesting to find out, however, how far he will go as a trapo. He is na?ve and could be easy prey for political vultures.
