Political career

House of Representatives

On February 12, 2007, Pacquiao announced his campaign for a seat in the Philippine House of
Representatives to represent the 1st District of South Cotabato province running as a candidate of the
Liberal Party faction under Manila mayor Lito Atienza.[80] Pacquiao, said he was persuaded to run by
the local officials of General Santos, hoping he would act as a bridge between their interests and the
national government.[80] Ultimately Pacquiao was forced to run under the Kabalikat ng Malayang
Pilipino (KAMPI), a pro-Arroyo political party by the courts. Pacquiao was defeated in the election by
incumbent Rep. Darlene Antonino-Custodio of the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), who said, "More
than anything, I think, people weren't prepared to lose him as their boxing icon."[81]

In preparation for his political career in the Filipino House of Representatives, Pacquiao enrolled in the
Certificate Course in Development, Legislation, and Governance at the Development Academy of the
Philippines – Graduate School of Public and Development Management (DAP-GSPDM).[82]

Manny Pacquiao and Jinkee Pacquiao with U.S. Senators Harry Reid and Daniel Inouye

On November 21, 2009, Pacquiao announced that he would run again for a congressional seat, but this
time in Sarangani province, the hometown of his wife Jinkee.[83] In May 2010, Pacquiao was elected to
the House of Representatives in the 15th Congress of the Philippines, representing the province of
Sarangani. He scored a landslide victory over the wealthy and politically well-entrenched Chiongbian
clan that had been in power in the province for more than thirty years. Pacquiao got 120,052 votes
while his opponent for the seat, Roy Chiongbian, got 60,899 votes.[84]

In 2013 he was re-elected to the 16th Congress of the Philippines.[85] He ran unopposed. Additionally,
his wife, Jinkee, was also elected as vice-governor of Sarangani, while his younger brother, Rogelio was
defeated by incumbent Rep. Pedro Acharon of Team PNoy in second district race in South Cotabato
which includes General Santos.

Because of other commitments, Pacquiao only attended one Congress session on the congress' final leg
and was criticized for being the top absentee among lawmakers. Despite his poor attendance and low
number of bills filed, he still announced his candidacy for Senator in the 2016 elections.[86]

Senate
Senator Manny Pacquiao, as chair of the Senate Committee on Sports, discusses a proposal seeking to
establish a Philippine Boxing Commission.

On October 5, 2015, Pacquiao formally declared that he was running for senator under the United
Nationalist Alliance (UNA) party of vice-president Jejomar Binay.[87] On May 19, 2016, Pacquiao was
formally elected as a senator by the Commission on Elections. Pacquiao garnered over 16 million votes,
landing 7th among 12 new members of the Senate.[88][89]

As a senator, he notably aligned himself with the Duterte government, facilitating on September 18,
2016, the ouster of Leila de Lima from the chairmanship of the Senate Justice committee and criticized
de Lima's presentation on September 21 of the same year of an alleged member of the Davao Death
Squad.[90][91] He has been vocal about De Lima's alleged links with a purported drug lord, Kerwin
Espinosa, an allegation that led to De Lima's arrest and detention.[92][93] De Lima has been a member
of the opposition in the Senate of the 17th and 18th Congress of the Philippines and a critic of Duterte;
prior to her arrest, she had been investigating the Davao Death Squad as well as suspected extrajudicial
killings within Duterte's War on Drugs.[93] Meanwhile, in another Senate hearing, Pacquiao defended
then-Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte from allegations of having a part, along with the vice mayor's
alleged drinking buddy Charlie Tan and Kenneth Dong, in a 2017 seized ₱6.4-billion shipment of illegal
drugs from Xiamen, China into the Philippines.[94]

As of 2018, Pacquiao has filed a total of 31 Senate bills[95] during the 17th Congress. And in a bill filed
alongside Senator Bato dela Rosa and Bong Go, he backed the return of capital punishment into the
lexicon of Philippine criminal law.[96][97]

In June 2019, the Philippine Senate released a data showing Pacquiao as having the worst attendance
record among all senators in the 17th Congress, reflecting a struggle Pacquiao had since he was a
congressman.[98]

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Pacquiao worked with Alibaba Group co-founder Jack Ma to
help bring to the Philippines 50,000 COVID-19 test kits through their respective charity foundations.[99]
[100]