Pacquiao fights for common man

Manny Pacquiao's qualifications to hold public office, given his education and grasp of the issues, has to be on a par with, oh, Jethro Bodine's.

Pacquiao, the flashy super featherweight who will pick up a cool $2 million-plus for punching out Jorge Solis in about five or six rounds tonight in the main event of a pay-per-view card in San Antonio, has something going for him that may trump his many apparent shortcomings as a candidate: an Elvis-like hold on the populace in the Philippines.

Pacquiao didn't graduate from high school and appears to have precious little understanding of the issues in his campaign for a congressional seat in the South Cotabato province, where he faces California-born incumbent Darlene Antonino-Custodio on May 14.

But the combination of Pacquiao's overwhelming popularity in his homeland, his wealth and his compassion for the common man may make the fighter a real threat to unseat Antonino-Custodio.

"If you would have gone to Manila a couple of months ago and asked people what they thought, if you talked to 10, 11 would say Manny had no chance," said Nick Giongco, a reporter for the Manila Bulletin who has covered all of Pacquiao's fights. "But in the last month or two, things have changed. Manny is gaining ground. His political opponent has made a few blunders, and it's creating sympathy for Manny."

Perhaps Antonino-Custodio's biggest mistake was trying to prevent tonight's fight from being broadcast on either radio or television in the Philippines, reasoning it would provide Pacquiao an unfair campaign edge.

Howls of protests forced the nation's fair political practices committee to deny her request. The fight will be broadcast free nationally on GMA, one of the country's largest TV networks.

But because it will in essence become a tape-delayed telecast -- GMA uses five minutes of commercials after the first round, which will put its broadcast behind the live feed -- the card also will be available commercial free at a cost on closed circuit throughout the country.

The sight of the country's most beloved figure scoring yet another sensational knockout undoubtedly will do wonders for Pacquiao's poll numbers.

The fight, though, may not do nearly as much for his chances as a few days on the stump with loquacious Top Rank chairman Bob Arum.

The pair plan to take a private jet from San Antonio early Sunday and fly to Manila, where promoter and fighter will hit the campaign trail.

Their issue, Arum said, will be advocacy for the poor and underprivileged.

"There's an oligarchy in power there, and Manny believes the common person is being forgotten," Arum said. "His celebrity can bring attention to these issues."

Scores of people in need line up outside Pacquiao's mansion each day. The hopeless, the downtrodden, the hopeful and the homeless congregate, wishing for a little charity.

He gets requests to finance a child's wedding or a grandparent's funeral, to feed the hungry and to pay for a life-saving operation.

He can't say no, he explains, because he wants to cry when he sees what he believes is social injustice. It was the point Sen. Ted Kennedy delivered so eloquently while eulogizing his brother Robert Kennedy in 1968 after his assassination while on the presidential campaign trail.

Kennedy asked simply that his brother "be remembered as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it."

Pacquiao insists ego and self-aggrandizement isn't spurring his run, but rather a desire to raise the standard of living among his people.

"I am not a politician and I don't like politics, but the people in my country need someone who can stand up and help them," Pacquiao said. "The politicians don't do their jobs. They say they will do something, but they don't keep their promises."

Of course, the same affliction may eventually overcome Pacquiao, whose ego is proportionate with his talent. But Giongco says the boxing star has a good track record of helping the disadvantaged.

"The problem with Manny is, he can't say no," Giongco said. "They ask him for money, and they ask him for help, and he's the kind of guy who has a soft heart."

There have been a lot of politicians with soft hearts over the years who have gotten clobbered at the polls the way Solis will be clobbered in the ring tonight.

A soft heart can be a good thing. But for the sake of those who sprang for the $44.95 pay-per-view fee, let's hope he's hardhearted at least until the boxing gloves come off tonight.

Kevin Iole's boxing column is published Saturday. He can be reached at 396-4428 or kiole@reviewjournal.com.