The ‘People’s Champ’ Manny Pacquiao surely outshone other boxers in the field of world boxing but does this also hold true in politics?
Manny’s political exploits obviously show us his political intentions. In 2007, he ran for congressman in his hometown South Cotabato but initially lost. Three years later, he ran for the same post in the neighboring province of Sarangani in 2010, where he finally defeated businessman Roy Chiongbian. It seems he’s become unstoppable in boxing as with politics. His recent statement in Mexican television left most people, critics and admirers alike, to raise their eyebrows: Pacquiao “plans to run for Vice President in 2016 elections”.
Manny’s political exploits obviously show us his political intentions. In 2007, he ran for congressman in his hometown South Cotabato but initially lost. Three years later, he ran for the same post in the neighboring province of Sarangani in 2010, where he finally defeated businessman Roy Chiongbian. It seems he’s become unstoppable in boxing as with politics. His recent statement in Mexican television left most people, critics and admirers alike, to raise their eyebrows: Pacquiao “plans to run for Vice President in 2016 elections”.
Indeed, one’s popularity has become a key to success in the Philippine political arena. This was demonstrated repeatedly by several actor-politicians, among them was former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada. No one however, is above the law, even to the most famous Filipino boxer known to the littlest of children; he is not exempted from the constitutional age requirement.
Article VII, Section 3 of the 1987 Constitution states that “There shall be a Vice-President who shall have the same qualifications and term of office and be elected with and in the same manner as the President.” And by the phrase “same qualifications” as the President, the framers of the Constitution meant that the person to vying for the vice-presidency “must be a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, a registered voter, able to read and write, at least 40 years old on the day of the election, and a resident of the Philippines for at least 10 years immediately preceding the election”.
Pacquiao would have been eligible to the Vice-presidency were it not for the fourth qualification, i.e., the “at least 40 years old on the day of the election”, because on that day, he will only be 37 years old as he was born on December 17, 1978.
“Baka naman nagbibiro lang siya. He can't run for either vice-president or president by 2016”, said Commission on Elections Chief Sixto Brillantes Jr. in a phone interview with GMA News.
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| What's next for Pacquiao after Congress? Is the possibility of him becoming President a distant reality? |
No one, however, exactly knows how certain events may shape future political landscape. While Manny Pacquiao clearly signifies the political path he wishes to tread, what is left for us is simply to wait and see.
Editor’s Note: This article was written by Shannevie Krista Villarta for The Nexus, the official magazine of the Mindanao State University College of Law - Iligan Extension Volume 13, Issue No. 2 with me as the Editor-in-Chief.
Picture credits:
Pacquiao's picture in Congress courtesy of Reuter's Eric de Castro.
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