Re: Pacman's Political Agenda

(sent to Inquirer) 
I am writing in response to the article Pacman’s political agenda, dated May 7, 2009. After having just watched Legally Blonde 2, I was inspired to speak up because I’ve observed that there has been too much hype going on after Pacquiao’s victory, and it really ain’t pretty.
            Being a symbol of Filipino pride is one thing, running for office to represent the Filipino is another. To me, Manny Pacquiao has always symbolized the Filipino who had to sweat and bleed to rise from poverty; an inspiration to those who had to live with almost nothing to their name; a man who represents the faith and strength of the Filipino. Yet, I still can’t help but dwell on the issue of his political agenda.

            After a failed attempt at congress, Pacquiao, after his victory over Hatton stated his intention to run for office again because he supposes that he can help the poor through the Congress. To me, this idea of governance has been the problem why our government is like traffic on a Monday morning – stand-still: people thinking that it is the only avenue for them to affect change in this country.

I have always believed that good governance is a function of electing brilliant leaders whose sole purpose is to serve their country. To me, good leaders are those who actually know how to argue for themselves, those who have actually learned to research on issues that affect our country, those who have experience in managing people and have immersed themselves enough to know the problem. While Manny has the experience to back his candidacy for Congress up, I think that he does not have enough knowledge to actually be immersed in that kind of politics. Being a congressman is a tough job – he has to propose legislation and decide on very important matters that will affect this country such as to confirm treaties, declare war, impeach a public official, etc. He cannot always rely on his staff to do things for him because in the end he is the one who decides. He will just be used by others to advance their political agenda. I have this observation that he has kept this attitude of the uneducated voter who thinks that those people run really do want to do good. This is the Philippines, and to tell you honestly, not all of them have clean intentions, and to rise from our poverty, we must elect an Obama!

Pacquiao has won over P580M during his match with Hatton. It is just sad to him throw it all away should he really run for office. Heck, even if he gives each Filipino a million pesos each, he still has over P400M left! But if he really wants to help people and to rebuild this nation, why not invest in long term development projects of NGO’s such as Gawad Kalinga, World Vision, and the World Wildlife Fund? Through those organizations he could provide scholarships for those who are smart from the slums but do not have the money to study, help save the environment and most importantly REBUILD THIS NATION!
The wisest investment and agenda he could make is to put his money where real solutions lie; nothing political – just pure, genuine, faith-based and principled service. HHat