Poll exec warns Pacquiao

BACOLOD CITY—Just like any movie star barred from making films while seeking elective office, Manny Pacquiao will also have to refrain from entering the boxing ring during his campaign for a Senate seat in the May elections, Election Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said on Sunday.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) official said Pacquiao may have to face the consequences if he violated the Fair Election Act.

Pacquiao, a senatorial candidate under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) of Vice President Jejomar Binay, is set to fight Timothy Bradley in Las Vegas on April 9, exactly a month before the May elections.

The Sarangani representative has said he is willing to postpone his fight with Bradley if it would infringe on election campaign rules, but he is nevertheless continuing his training for the much-awaited event in Las Vegas.

“They say he’s going to have a boxing match. He can, of course, box. That is his privilege, but if he shows his boxing match (on television) here, in my opinion, it will have consequences on his candidacy,” Guanzon said.

“I don’t want to preempt the commission. In my opinion, it will have consequences. Let’s see if he will decide to have a match and air it here,” she added.

Guanzon said the media exposure Pacquiao would get from the fight would unfairly boost his candidacy.

She compared the boxing champ with movie actors running for office who she said were not supposed to show their movies during the campaign.

“That’s unfair,” she said. “Newscasters, if they run, they go on leave because that would be unfair to the other candidates. That is the intent of the law.”

The Comelec earlier said it would look into the possible violation of election rules should the Pacquiao-Bradley match push through.

But Comelec Chair Andres Bautista said he preferred to act on complaints filed against Pacquiao rather than having the poll body act unilaterally on its own on the matter.

Last week, independent senatorial candidate and former Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello asked the Comelec to compel Pacquiao to postpone the fight.

Bello filed a seven-page petition saying Pacquiao’s extensive media exposure from his fight would give the boxer undue advantage over the other candidates.

In the latest Social Weather Stations survey conducted from Feb. 5 to 7, Pacquiao and former Justice Secretary Leila de Lima were tied in eighth place.

Below the belt

Bello said advertisements during the fight alone would give Pacquiao exposure that exceeded the allowed airtime of 120 minutes in every television station and 180 minutes in every radio station, as provided for by the new implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act No. 9006, or the Fair Elections Act.

Comelec Resolution No. 10049, or the IRR of RA 9006, prohibits showing publicly in a theater, through a TV station, or any public forum any movie, cinematography or documentary, including concert or any type of performance, portraying the life or biography of a candidate.

The resolution also prohibits any radio, television, cable TV station, announcer or broadcaster from allowing any program or any sponsor to favor or oppose any candidate or party by repeatedly mentioning his name or his party.

Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal, however, has argued that Pacquiao’s match against Bradley cannot be a ground to disqualify the champ as a senatorial candidate.

There is no provision in election laws that justifies any complaint to disqualify Pacquiao because of his fight, he said.

If there is any election offense defined under Philippine laws, it could not be invoked against Pacquiao because the fight will be held in Las Vegas, Macalintal said.

Training goes on

There was no indication that the controversy had affected Pacquiao’s preparations for the upcoming bout, although the training went roller-coaster last week.

He sparred for the first time against Canada-based Congolese Ghislain Maduma on Tuesday. Unfortunately, a glancing blow by Maduma in the third round grazed Pacquiao’s left eye. Pacquiao rubbed his eye with a towel, irritating it with excess petroleum jelly, which is used to make the face slippery.

With his eye reddish and stingy, Pacquiao was unable to train on Wednesday and Thursday. He resumed his morning run on Friday and did gym work with chief trainer Freddie Roach in the afternoon, wearing dark shades to protect his eye from the sun’s glare.

Reinvigorated, Pacquiao sparred for five rounds with Maduma on Saturday. Originally set to leave for the United States on March 5, Pacquiao had requested Roach to move his departure to March 15.

Pacquiao and Roach will resume training at Wild Card Gym in Hollywood and will head to Las Vegas on April 3 for his third showdown with Bradley on April 9 (April 10 in Manila) at MGM Grand. With reports from Roy Luarca and Inquirer Research

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