World boxing champion Manny Pacquiao boldly announced to media that he would like to run as a vice presidential candidate in the Philippines in 2016.

"In 2016, I am going to run for vice-president. No more boxing at that time," he beamed towards the press, astounded by his announcement.

The declaration drew flak and admiration from all sectors in the Philippines and in the international community. In the local scenario, where citizens characterize themselves with venerating "modern" heroes, such statement is deemed a sign of victory, especially if the aspirant who claims "bridging the people's interests and the national government" as his political motive treads on a rags-to-riches path.

Manny Pacquiao, who will turn 33 on Dec 17, hails from a very destitute family in General Santos, a humble city in Southern Philippines. His achievements in sports, business, and politics are seen as heroic acts from a people hit by poverty across the country.

In the Philippine presidential elections held in 2010, Manny Pacquiao bested his political opponents in a congressional race in Sarangani Province, after losing in his own district to then incumbent representative Darlene Antonino in a similar bet in the legislative election in 2007.

Can He Lead the Country?

Before he entered the filthy world of politics, he is first a professional sports icon. Recognized as the first to earn an eight-division world championship with 10 world titles, and the first to deserve the lineal championship with four victories in four different weight classes, Manny Pacquiao admitted to being a school dropout.

He blamed fierce poverty for seeing boxing as the promising option to lift himself and his family from constant hunger and inconveniences. His decision was right. News of a championship after a championship from local and international arena made headlines, making Paquiao a potential candidate not just for illicit affairs, but also for investments in business and of course, politics.

Three months before the May elections in 2007, news reported that Manny Pacquiao took and passed the high school equivalency exam, which qualified him for college. It also boosted a little his political qualifications.

When he won the congressional seat in the lone district of Sarangani, he made efforts to prepare himself in the ensuing battle of wits and brains in the lower house by enrolling at the Development Academy of the Philippines for certificate programs in Development, Legislation and Governance.

A year after swearing to the office, Manny Pacquiao joined forces with incumbent governor Miguel Dominguez in a series of projects in Sarangani. First to hit its grounds is Sarangani Medical Center through a Public-Private Partnership Agreement under the DBP's Credit for Better Health Care Program. Pacquiao proudly said to the media that the tertiary level hospital, which is the province's first, will have 200 beds and seek to save each year hundreds of thousands spent for hospitalization of its constituents outside Sarangani.

He also teams up with Department of Social Welfare and Development in anti-poverty projects with 70 percent funding from Pacquiao for every anti-poverty project implemented. As of June, he awarded livelihood projects to 350 poverty-stricken families in a coastal town of Glan in Sarangani Province.

With such a good start to build up a strong political profile for a newbie politician, one could not help playing curious about Manny's capacity to hold the title of being the second-in-seat to the country's most sought-after political throne.

Doubtless, his incumbent political performance coupled with the outcome in two more boxing bouts will determine his fate in future politics.

In a country where fame and prestige are given more importance than competence in choosing a leader, and where relevant experience is not among the requirements for seeking a public office, Pacman's high ambition is not a distant realization. In fact,the country's requirements in running for a vice-president position are not really strict. Omnibus Election Code of the Philippines cites that a vice-presidential candidate needs only to to be a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, a registered voter, able to read and write . . . and a resident of the Philippines for at least 10 years immediately preceding such elections.

Eight-time world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao confidently announced his intention to seek the vice-president position come 2016. He, however, failed to conceal his ignorance of the law as he forgot that the Omnibus Election Code also requires that the candidate should be at least 40 years of age on the day of election.