PACQUIAO AND POLITICS (PART III)
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 10 Oct 2015
Records in the House of Representatives show that during his first term in 2010-2013, Congressman Manny Pacquiao was present in 98 out of 168 session days, and attended sessions for only four days last year because of his training for the fight against Timothy Bradley last April 12, 2014 and against Chris Algieri on November 23, 2014 for the WBO world welterweight championship.
"The fact that he is bringing glory to our country, he is able to unify, he is putting our country on the map, overshadows everything, his shortcomings," said Congressman Ben Evardone, one of the stalwarts of the ruling Liberal Party, as quoted by the Associated Press.
"The perception is that he is approachable, he has an empathy for Filipinos," said political analyst Ramon Casiple as quoted by Yahoo!
His rags-to-riches story inspires a great number of Filipinos who dreamed to at least alleviate their life. They look up to him as their hero.
With a net worth of P1.688 billion, Pacquiao is listed as the richest member of the House of Representatives for the fifth straight year, based on the records of the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth for 2014 of the members of the House of Representatives.
Pacquiao together with pawnshop tycoon Philippe J. Lhuillier and Silicon Valley investor Diosdado Banatao are three Filipinos who made it to the list of Asia?s ?Heroes of Philanthropy? for 2015 by Forbes Asia magazine. The three were featured along with 37 others in the magazine?s list of Asia-Pacific?s top philanthropists.
He is perceived by his supporters to be different from the other lawmakers who amassed wealth from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) and other funds for their pet projects and non-government organizations. He spends some money out of his boxing earnings to finance his livelihood projects and disaster relief operations.
Pacquiao earned $125 million for his fight against Floyd Mayweather, the richest boxing bout in history. His total earnings amounted to $160 million including the $23 million he pocketed from his fight with Algieri and his $12 million income through endorsement and advertisement deals with Nike, Foot Locker, Wonderful Pistachios, Nestle's Butterfinger and other commercials in the Philippines.
This made Pacquiao the No. 2 in the top 100 celebrities and the No. 2 among the highest-paid athletes of the world in the 2015 Forbes list. He placed second to Mayweather in both lists.
The fighting Congressman is offered and considered to be with the senatorial ticket of presidentiables Vice Pres. Jejomar Binay, former DILG Sec. Mar Roxas, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Sen. Grace Poe. His people drawing power will be an asset to every campaign.
Pacquiao belongs to the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) of Vice President Binay, but reports that he would soon leave the party and that he would run as an independent under the tandem of Sen. Grace Poe and Sen. Francis Escudero.
Just recently, Roxas commented that Pacquiao may join the LP and said "It's possible." The administration party has been wooing the ten-time world champion to be a part of their twelve-man Senate slate.
While Pacquiao is also included in Duterte's "Dream Team" as announced by former Gov. Manny Pi?ol. The Duterte camp explained that Serge Osme?a, Ping Lacson, Pacquiao and Migs Zubiri are considered "sure winners" in the Senate race according to philstar.com.
Senator Tito Sotto, who is running for reelection, has been topping both Pulse Asia and SWS senatorial surveys. He was widely criticized when he ran for senator the first time in 1992 and topped it because he is an actor, a noon-time show host in Eat Bulaga, and a national bowling team member.
He has a two-decade public service as senator and completed two productive terms, chairing many committees, among them public services, science and technology, local government and tourism. He also chaired the joint oversight committees on local government, youth and sports development and rural development.
He had chaired the Senate committee on illegal drugs and led the Dangerous Drug Board as chairman from July 2008 to Nov. 2009. He has sponsored and authored more than a hundred laws, according to the official website of the Senate.
Sotto, like Pacquiao, is an actor and a sportsman, but is one of the most prolific senators and acted as majority leader and minority leader in separate occasions in the Upper Chamber.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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