Senator-elect Pacquiao takes a crash course on governance & legislation
By Aquiles Z. Zonio
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 11 Jun 2016
GENERAL SANTOS CITY ? Senator-elect Manny Pacquiao takes a crash course on Governance & Legislation conducted by the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) and the Ateneo School of Government.
Dubbed ?Executive Coaching Program,? the short course, which focuses on governance and legislation, started last June 8 and will wind up on June 17.
Pacquiao bankrolled the training to prepare himself and his staff for the difficult Senate duties ahead.
?I am excited with my new job in the Senate. I have to prepare and familiarize myself with the intricacies and nitty-gritty of my job as senator, so, I have to submit myself to this kind of training,? Pacquiao said.
Pacquiao is taking his Senate job seriously, adding that ?I owe it to the Filipino people who voted for me.?
Pacquiao has not only attended all the sessions since the training kicked off last Wednesday, he was also actively participating in the discussions.
Pacquiao declined the offer to lead the Philippine boxing team in the forthcoming Rio Olympics, citing the precedence of his Senate duties over and above other things.
?This is the very reason why I did not accept the offer for me to lead the Philippine boxing team in the Rio Olympics. Nakakahiya sa mga taong bumoto sa atin. Kauupo pa lang natin tapos mag-aabsent agad tayo,? he said.
Other participants to the training include representatives from the congressional office of Sarangani Congressman-elect Rogelio Pacquiao and from the local governments units of Gensan and Sarangani.
The topics include issues on economy, labor, health, environment, peace and public safety, foreign relations and education, among others.
A course briefer from DAP claimed the training was customized to provide Senator-elect Pacquiao with a perspective of his role as a senator and as a major proponent of development in the national level, equip him and his team with technical knowledge needed in carrying out their task, acquaint them with the processes and procedures in lawmaking and provide facts and data from national to local that may be essential in pushing his legislative agenda.
Pacquiao is the first ever senator coming from Central Mindanao.
He landed in the 7th place even without launching or joining in a nationwide campaign.
He made his presence felt in the campaign trail only last April 28 or barely more than a week before election.
United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) presidential candidate, outgoing Vice President Jejomar Binay, called up Pacquiao asking if the latter could do him a favor by joining in his provincial campaign sorties.?
Other UNA candidates jumped ship upon sensing that Binay was clearly losing in the presidential race.
Pacquiao, however, stood his ground to prove he?s the type of man who would never abandon a friend even in times of trouble.
Pacquiao was one among those who prodded Davao city mayor Rodrigo Duterte to run as president.
As early as August 2015, Pacquiao had already egged on Duterte to run as president when the latter dropped by Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City.
Pacquiao and his family was having dinner at the hotel when Duterte came to see him.
Then, on October 2014, just a day before the deadline for the filing of the Certificate of Candidacy (COC), Pacquiao and Duterte talked over the phone for several hours.
Pacquiao, with three of his personal staff, was then in New York City to receive an award from the United Nations.
Pacquiao was relentless in convincing Duterte to run, even expressing his interest to join in the latter?s senatorial slate. The rest is history.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Aquiles Z. Zonio.
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