By JOHN ELIGON and CARLOS H. CONDE

The New York Times
Published: April 14, 2007

Manny Pacquiao, a championship super featherweight boxer, is largely known as a uniting force in his native Philippines. When he fights, it has been said, the streets clear, crime drops and people gather around their televisions.

Pacquiao will defend his W.B.C. international title Saturday night.

But when Pacquiao recently announced that he would run for a congressional seat in the district where he grew up, the move caused ambivalence: Many people, including fans, have questioned the decision. Pacquiao, 28, received his high school equivalency diploma this year in the Philippines, and some wonder what he would bring to office.

“We’ve already noticed how many of his fans are against his decision to run,” said Earl Parreno, a political analyst at the Manila-based Institute for Popular Democracy. “I think he will lose, because while he is popular, he cannot provide an answer to the one thing that most Filipino voters demand from their candidates: What’s in it for us?”

In the ring, Pacquiao faces a more immediate obstacle. He will put his World Boxing Council international super featherweight title on the line tonight in San Antonio against Jorge Solis. The fight will be televised on a pay-per-view basis.

The combination of the fight and the impending May 14 election have created controversy in the Philippines. A lawyer for the political party of Pacquiao’s opponent, the incumbent, Darlene Antonino-Custodio, recently petitioned to stop the fight from being televised in the Philippines, citing election laws meant to prevent a candidate from having an unfair publicity advantage.

Filipino fight fans opposed the move, and the election commission ruled the bout could be televised. But the commission stipulated that Pacquiao could not discuss politics during television promotions for the fight.

Still, he has found a way to get his political message out. He is doing it through his promoter, Bob Arum, who said he planned to visit the Philippines to help the campaign and said he would distribute political posters and buttons before the fight.

They have their work cut out for them. Among the criticism of Pacquiao’s decision to run for office is a chain e-mail message written by Kristine Rose, a 19-year-old student at the University of the Philippines.

“He is that generous man who shares his blessings to others,” the e-mail message read. “But does it mean that he could also be a successful politician? Will he be a uniting agent amid all the contradictions that occur in this country? Or does he even know what he has gone into?”

In a telephone interview from San Antonio, Pacquiao said he had a clear political agenda: “The reason why I’m running for office, I want to help a lot of the poor people. I want to give them more jobs and education and bring more business and industry to my district.”

For now, Pacquiao (43-3-2) said his focus was on defeating Solis (32-0-2).

Pacquiao, a 130-pound left-hander, has earned a reputation as one of the world’s best pound-for-pound boxers. The Boxing Writers Association of America and Ring Magazine each named him the 2006 fighter of the year. He is known for a fast-paced style and his punching power.

Pacquiao was born into poverty in Kibawe, a village in the hinterlands of General Santos City, where he currently lives. He left school in his early teens to work to make money for his family. His jobs ranged from selling doughnuts to working construction.

He fell for boxing in 1990 after hearing a radio broadcast of Buster Douglas’s upset of Mike Tyson. He trained several years at home with an uncle before going to a gym in Davao, a city east of General Santos, for formal training. He reportedly fought more than 60 amateur fights before turning professional in 1995.

Pacquiao’s breakout came in 2001, when, fighting for the first time in the United States, he won the International Boxing Federation’s super bantamweight title with a sixth-round technical knockout of Lehlohonolo Ledwaba. He most recently knocked out Erik Morales in November in their third fight; Pacquiao won two of the bouts.

Along the way, he has made many fans, including Antonino-Custodio, his election opponent. She authored several resolutions congratulating Pacquiao for his many victories in the ring.

In an interview, Antonino-Custodio said she felt that Pacquiao was pressured into running by the administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the president of the Philippines, who has faced accusations of corruption, including the allegation that she fixed her victory in the 2004 election.

“He wants to help people,” Antonino-Custodio said. “He has said before that he wanted to run for mayor. So I don’t know what made him change his mind.”

Pacquiao said he was a friend of Macapagal-Arroyo’s. Her oldest son, Pacquiao said, is the godfather of his oldest son, Emmanuel Jr.

Gabriel Claudio, Macapagal-Arroyo’s chief political adviser, denied that Pacquiao had been pressured into running.

He explained that Pacquiao’s decision resulted from a “groundswell of support from the local level” that began when he won his last bout. “It was gradual,” Claudio said. “But in the Philippines, anybody who makes a big splash almost always finds a way later into politics.”

Pacquiao earns about $20 million a year, including endorsements. He owns a rooster farm, a boxing promotions company and a basketball team called the MP Warriors, which plays in the country’s top league.

He said he hoped to use his celebrity to encourage business development in his district, South Cotabato, a largely poor agricultural province in the southern Philippines.

Claudio said Pacquiao’s desire to help people where he grew up could make up for his lack of formal education.

“What makes a good congressman?” he said. “Proficiency in the English language? Legal knowledge? Not necessarily. What is more important is a sincere desire and readiness to represent a certain important and significant sector of society. And Manny has shown that.”

Carlos H. Conde reported from Cagayan de Oro, the Philippines, and John Eligon from New York.