By Izah Morales, Yahoo! Southeast Asia Tuesday March 30, 2010 05:22 pm PHT
Manny Pacquiao may be the people’s hero when it comes to boxing, but he is the complete opposite when it comes to his political ambitions. Running for a congressional seat in Sarangani is not just another ring match for Pacquiao but a dream waiting to be fulfilled.
“Pangarap ko talagang makatulong sa mga tao. Parang sa boxing din, nangarap akong maging world champion. So ginawa ko ang lahat para maging champion. Natupad ko ito. Ngayon naman, gusto kong tuparin ang pangarap kong makatulong sa mga tao. [It’s really my dream to help the people. In boxing, I aspired to be a world champion. I gave my all to achieve that dream. Now, I want to fulfill my other to dream of helping people.], ” said Pacquiao in an interview with Yahoo! Southeast Asia.
When asked why he chose to enter politics when he could just as easily help people through foundations and charities, Pacquiao replied, “Alam mo marami din naman akong foundations pero hindi iyon enough para makatulong sa mga tao [I also have foundations but those weren’t enough to help the people].”
Boxing is an option Pacquiao may not return to should he be less than victorious in politics.
“Kung hindi man ako palarin, hindi ko iniisip ang boxing. Hindi ko inuugnay ang boxing at pulitika. Ayokong i-connect ‘yung dalawa dahil ang boxing karangalan ‘yun para sa ating lahat na mga Pilipino. ‘Yung politics naman ay paglilingkod sa bayan [If I lose, I’m not thinking of boxing. I don’t want to relate boxing and politics because they are different from each other. Boxing has given us Filipinos glory while joining politics is serving our country],” said Pacquiao.
Even with the 700,000 pay-per-view buys from his fight against Ghanian boxer Joshua Clottey and after earning an estimated $35.3 million in revenues, Pacquiao admitted that he is ready to retire from boxing.
“Okay na rin ako magretire. Sabi kasi ng mama ko, wag mo intayin na magkaroon ka ng karamdaman bago ka magretiro. Kung kailangan lumuhod daw sya sa harap ko para huminto ako sa boxing, gagawin daw nya. [I’m okay with the prospect of retirement. My mother told me that I should not wait for an illness to retire. She told me that she would beg on her knees for me to stop boxing if she needed to.],” shared Pacquiao.
