Assignment in USCP

Julien Patrick Cebrian

STEM 11A

Manny Pacquiao

Emmanuel “Manny” Dapidran Pacquiao is a Filipino professional boxer and politician, currently
serving as a Senator of the Philippines. Born in December 17, 1978, Pacquiao was born was born
in Kibawe, Bukidnon, Philippines. He is the fourth child of six siblings. His parents were Rosalio
Pacquiao and Dionisia Dapidran-Pacquiao. His parents separated when he was in sixth grade, when his
mother discovered that his father was living with another woman.

Pacquiao married Jinkee Jamora on May 10, 2000. They currently have five children, Emmanuel
Jr., Michael Stephen, Mary Divine Grace, Queen Elizabeth and Israel. He resides in his hometown
of General Santos City, South Cotabato, Philippines. However, as a congressman of lone district of
Sarangani, he is officially residing in Kiamba, Sarangani, the hometown of his wife.

Raised in the Roman Catholic faith, Pacquiao is currently a practicing Evangelical Protestant.
Pacquiao said he once had a dream where he saw a pair of angels and heard the voice of God—this dream
convinced him to become a devout believer.

Despite having only finished elementary, Pacquiao has received many degrees. He had finished
his elementary education at Saavedra Saway Elementary School in General Santos city and at the age 14,
he had dropped out of high school and left his home due to his mother not being able to provide for him
and his siblings. Despite this, Pacquiao has received a decent education. In 2007, he had taken and
subsequently passed a high school equivalency exam, which allowed him to take a college course. He
then soon after enrolled at Notre Dame of Dadiangas for a College course of Business Management. In
2009, he was awarded an Honorary doctorate degree of Humanities by Southwestern University, Cebu in
recognition of his humanitarian work. In recent years prior to his Politics career, Pacquiao had taken a
Course in Development, Legislation and Governance at the Development Academy of the Philippines-
Graduate School of Public and Development management. Also, of note, is the fact that Pacquiao is a
military reserve Colonel in the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
As far as the involvement of famous people in politics, I believe it is a dirty job, mostly money
focused motivations for famous personalities going into politics. If not money focused, I think that they
are going to be used by other people in their seat in power.
These being said, we can now objectively assess Pacquiao as a politician. It is to no doubt that
celebrities such as Pacquiao have an edge when it comes to public support. The “Proudly Pinoy”
mentality of the Filipinos have strongly impacted their choice of voting for Pacquiao as a Senator.
Pacquiao is no doubt, on paper, unqualified to be a Senator, having little to no experience in law or
lawmaking whatsoever. His degrees, Humanities and Development, Legislation and Governance are all
considered pre-law courses and does not quality one to be a lawyer. Furthermore, Pacquiao has had little
experience in the field of Politics. He was elected Congressman of Sarangani Province in 2010, but has
had little attendance in office as well as no major political reforms have been done. As a Senator,
however, I think that he as shown himself a worthy Senator who is willing to serve the people, not driven
by money. He, as a Senator has strongly opposed morally and Biblically unsound laws which have been
pushed. He has supported the arts and sports. In fact; he helped increase the budget of the National Sports
Authority in the Philippines. However, as previously mentioned, his lack of experience in politics and law
may be taken advantage of by his fellow politicians.
Regarding Pacquiao as a personality, I think he is a very nice person. His conversion to
Evangelical Protestantism, I believe, has changed him from a pride filled person to a humble generous
heart who is willing to help the public. His willingness to help the general public is quite heroic, but
again, I believe his lack of experience is likely to be a major thorn in his time in the Philippine Political
arena.
In conclusion, I think Pacquiao is a worthy Senator. He has a heart for the people and is willing to
serve the people. However, I do not think that his qualifications are enough to make him an excellent
senator. I think that his inexperience in the field may be taken advantage of by opportunist and money-
minded politicians. I do however like the fact that his decisions are mostly Bible-based and are morally
for the good of the society.